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FOREMAN TRAINING 

AND 

FACTORY MANAGEMENT 



L. A. HARTLEY 



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1920 

WOODRUFF PRINTING CO. 

Lincoln, Nebraska 



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Copyrighted 1920 
By L. A. Hartley 



j EC 10 1920 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGES 

Preface q 

Introduction 5 

1— Round Table Discussion 7 

Organization • 7 

Principles of discussion 3 

2— Occupational Analysis 13 

Processes -.0 

Workers jo 

3— Instruction of Workers and Apprentices 17 

Trade preparatory yj 

Trade extension -j? 

Related instruction jg 

Analysis for teaching content 19 

4— Maintenance of Order 22 

Common errors 22 

Orders, directions and suggestions 25 

5— Enforcement of Company Policies 27 

Common policy 27 

Statutory policy . 27 

Official decisions 28 

6 — Promotion of Interest 30 

Ambition on 

Job pride gj 

Praise 32 

Criticism 32 

Self-respect 33 

Curiosity 34 

7— First Aid 36 

Company policy 3g 

Infection 37 

Confusion 30 

8 — Care of Equipment 40 

Lubrication 40 

Cleaning and painting 41 

Adjustments 42 

Repairs . 42 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGES 

9 — Records and Reports 44 

Records . . 44 

Reports 52 

10 — Labor Turnover 55 

Cost of training .55 

Employment 56 

Training based upon labor turnover 58 

Discharges 59 

Absences 60 

11 — Materials 62 

Ordering 62 

Storing 65 

Developing 65 

Delivery 67 

12 — Cooperation 71 

Cooperating groups 71 

Personal cooperation 72 

Departmental cooperation 73 

13 — Outside Influences 81 

Social 82 

Educational 86 

Economic 88 

14 — Operations and Processes 92 

Operations 92 

Processes 93 

Supervision 94 

Promotion 95 

Plan for improving equipment 96 

15 — Safety First 1 03 

Fixing responsibility 103 

Avoidable accidents 104 

Unavoidable accidents 1 09 

16 — Purposes and Aims of Foreman Training 118 

The need for a representative group 118 

Elements in foreman analysis 119 

The problem of the human-engineer 126 



PREFACE 

This material is prepared in answer to a demand for a short 
course of lessons in foreman training. Experience in attempting to 
concentrate a series of eighty-five lessons into an evening course 
during the limited time the students were able to attend, convinced 
the author of the need for a shorter course. 

These topics, in mimeographed form, were used and continually 
revised during the training of seven different groups. 

No claim is made for having presented new ideas. Super- 
intendents and managers who have shared this training with their 
foremen have been unanimous in reporting that the changes in their 
factory practices resulting from this course, represent merely old 
and proven business principles. 

Several excellent texts have been used by the author during his 
experience in foreman training, each of which has contributed in 
part, toward he preparation of this material. 

Limited space does not permit mention of the names of the 
many foremen, superintendents and managers who have contributed 
useful material. Special acknowledgement is made to the follow- 
ing persons: Mr. John Purcell, Assistant to Vice-President, Santa 
Fe Railway System, for helpful suggestions on apprentice training 
and factory management; Mr. N. E. Hildreth, Works Manager, 
Witte Engine Co., Kansas City, Mo., for suggestions in the organiza- 
tion of instruction; Miss Alice M. Loomis, Assistant State Supervisor 
of Trade and Industrial Education for Women's Trades in Nebraska, 
for assistance in the preparation of material; Wm. DeBaufre, 
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nebraska, for 
helpful criticism of the topics. 

L. A. Hartley. 

Lincoln, Nebraska 
November, 1920 



INTRODUCTION 

Three principal aims are undertaken in this series of topics: 
1 — Increased production 
2 — Improved cooperation 
3 — Lowered labor turnover. 

It is assumed that foremen who are not interested in improving 
the quantity or quality of production will not manifest an interest 
in foreman training. 

The course is planned so that the topics may be read as a book, 
studied as independent or related lessons, or used as a ready reference 
book by foremen, superintendents or managers. An endeavor has 
been made to use short sentences intended to provide the fore- 
man with "production proverbs", which may be useful to him in 
daily conversation. 

This course has been used in training foremen, foreladies, super- 
intendents and managers representing more than thirty-five different 
trades or pursuits. In order to insure its general application; the 
examples chosen to illustrate principles have concerned common 
experiences. 

Specific application of general principles laid down in the topics 
is provided in the series of related questions following each topic 
These questions are intended to direct the attention of the foreman 
to the special problems of his own business. Further application of 
these general principles to individual situations may be obtained by 
round table discussion of resolutions based upon the subject matter 
of the topic. 

Resolutions have been selected from among many proposed 
during several training courses and have been combined with a 
detailed outline of the methods of organization of class work in 
foreman training, into a book which can be obtained from the pub- 
lishers of this book. This material is omitted from this publication 
in the interest of offering a readable book to foremen, who might be 
confused by the pedagogical material. 



The four factors which are generally considered during the 
development of foremen training, i. e. materials, equipment, opera- 
tions and processes, and men, have been supplemented by a fifth 
factor, outside influences. 

Out of consideration for the persons to whom the topics will go, 
less space has been devoted to the materials factor than is sometimes 
given. If the topics were to be used with college students in pre- 
foreman instruction, emphasis might well have been placed upon 
materials. It is safe to assume that each company has a policy 
regarding handling and storing materials, and that, by the time a 
worker is ready for a f oremanship, he will have become fairly familiar 
with the various methods of handling and storing of materials. 

The concensus of opinion among managers seems to indicate 
clearly that the human factor is the one requiring greatest attention. 
In this series an endeavor has been made to follow the suggestions 
of successful foremen, superintendents and managers with regard to 
the relative values of the five factors mentioned above. 

All five factors are touched upon in each topic with the exception 
of the first three. This arrangement is set up as a part of the plan 
to provide topics which can be used independently as well as in 
series. 

This independent arrangement is a result of experience in many 
foreman training groups, where unavoidable absences from one of a 
series of interdependent lessons usually resulted in a permanent 
separation from the course. 

In anticipation of a revised edition the author will appreciate 
receiving any criticism which may suggest itself to the reader. 



Topic No. 1 
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION 

Round table discussion offers opportunity for instruction in 
recitation. This type of socialized recitation is coming to be recog- 
nized as having advantages peculiarly adapted to industrial training. 
Its successful operation depends upon the application of the methods 
of organization, and the principles of discussion. 

METHODS OF ORGANIZATION 

The round table should begin its organization by the selection 
of a chairman, vice-chairman and secretary. 

The duty of the chairman is to preside over all sessions of 
the round table and to render decisions in case of an equal division 
of opinion of the members. The vice-chairman will be expected to 
assume the duties of the chairman during the absence of the chair- 
man. The secretary is expected to make a record of important 
questions and of decisions following discussions. 

A committee composed of the chairman, vice-chairman and 
secretary, should be formed with whom the instructor may confer 
from time to time regarding the conduct of the course and the 
selection of questions for discussion. 

Questions for discussion should be announced in advance, 
and persons selected to present the questions before the round 
table. Strict observance of time allowance for each speaker will be 
necessary in order that the period may be finished on time. The 
chairman should be held responsible for time observance. 

The instructor should open the discussion with a statement of 
the principles involved in the question to be brought before the 
group. Notes taken during this statement of principles may serve 
as a guide during discussions. 

Following the debate between selected persons, considerable 
time should be devoted to general consideration of the question, 
each member of the round table taking part in the discussion. 



8 ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION 

At the close of the general discussion, the instructor should 
present a summary of conclusions. When the summary is finished, 
the following announcements should be made: 

1 — Resolution to be discussed during the next session. 
2 — Names of persons selected to lead in the discussion. 

PURPOSE OF INSTRUCTION AND PRACTICE IN 
DISCUSSION 

Churches, schools and the press are usually the cultural reflection 
of our best businesses. In many instances, however, our businesses 
would reflect their better selves more truly if the reflection came 
from within rather than from without. Every business should be 
represented in the community by workers who not only understand 
the business but can go before the public on a moment's notice and 
defend this or that company policy, or ably advocate some plan 
for community betterment. If the foremen and superintendents 
were trained in the art of expressing their honest opinions, the 
demagogue and the political shyster would soon be forced to change 
to essential occupations. 

This course is intended to aid in the preparation of a group of 
trained industrial leaders who will take their places before the people 
and help to bring about an understanding of the problems and oppor- 
tunities of the business enterprises of the community. 

PRINCIPLES OF DISCUSSION 

During discussion, the speaker should consider himself to be a 
salesman of ideas. He will have arrived at certain conclusions and 
he will be expecting to convince his hearers of the validity of his 
claims. The first duty of the salesman is to believe in the goods 
he is to sell. In that connection, the question for discussion should 
be so worded that each side will have reason for the faith it is sustain- 
ing. It becomes the duty of the speaker, as a salesman of ideas, to 
present them in as attractive and winning a manner as possible. 

It is not to be wondered at, that some speakers create antagonism 
for the ideas they present. The idea may be a perfectly good one 



ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION 9 

but if it is presented in a belligerent or antagonistic manner, the effect 
is to antagonize the group to whom it is presented. Under the 
circumstances, the speaker is disappointed in the result. A little 
reflection will convince any right minded person that "The public 
should not be blamed for refusing to accept an article from a poor 
salesman." If a speaker will but consider himself a salesman of 
ideas, he will have gone a long way toward becoming a finished 
public speaker. All conversation is but a vehicle by which ideas 
may be transported. 

Order, that first law of life, should appear in conversation as 
well as in all other means of expression. Order in conversation 
depends upon the method of organization. There are three natural 
steps in conversation — for convenience, we shall name them, com- 
parison, presentation and demonstration.* 

In the comparative step, the minds of the audience (customers) 
are prepared to receive the idea which is about to be presented. In 
the presentation step, the idea is joined up to the knowledge which 
the customer already possesses. In the comparative step, the 
speaker will do well to consider the minds of his audience as so many 
grab-bags containing any number of ideas, some wholly unlike the 
new idea to be presented, others quite similar to it. The speaker 
should select some common idea, which he has reason to believe 
may be found in the minds of his hearers, and which is as nearly 
similar as possible to the new idea to be presented. The common 
idea should compare with or parallel the new idea to be presented. 

Example — A talk intended to show the advantages of using 
overhead conveyers, rather than trucks and wheelbarrows, for 
delivery of materials. Notes: 1 — It is assumed that the audience 
is made up of persons who are familiar with the overhead delivery 
systems in use in department stores. 2 — The introductory state- 
ment should call attention to the need for improvement of the 
present system of delivery. 

*Note: Step 1 [may be preceded by an introductory statement or question 
which will direct the attention of the customer or audience to the subject to be 
discussed. 



10 ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION 

Comparison 

Step 1 — The common idea, i. e., the department store delivery- 
system, having been selected, the audience may be reminded of their 
experience in department stores where packages are delivered quickly 
and surely to any department. Attention may be called to the 
great saving in time and energy through the use of a delivery system. 

Presentation 

Step 2— The comparison being complete the "salesman" may 
proceed directly to a description of the shop conveyor showing the 
essential differences between it and the department store conveyer 
emphasizing its strong points. 

Demonstration 

Step 3 — Having presented the new idea the salesman may 
clinch his argument by showing how easily and effectively the con- 
veyer may be applied to the shop. 

A little practice in the selection and use of comparisons will 
enable the speaker to prepare readily the minds of his hearers for 
the presentation of his ideas. 

METHODS TO BE USED DURING PRESENTATION 

Among the tools of a carpenter will be found a saw, hammer, 
plane and square. Certain tools are used in conveying ideas by 
means of conversation or discussion. The speaker or teacher has 
four tools or methods which he uses while presenting ideas. These 
methods are: 

1 — Experiment 
2 — Demonstration 
3 — Lecture or statement 
4 — Illustration. 
Experiment is used only in an emergency and when all other 
methods are certain to fail. 

Demonstration should be used only in connection with illustra- 
tion or lecture. It should never be used except when the demon- 
stration may be completed. 



ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION 11 

The lecture method should be used only when illustration cannot 
be used to advantage, and during the presentation of empirical 
information, such as numbers, names, locations, directions, etc. In 
this presentation of empirical information, which consists of arbitrary 
facts which will not admit of discussion, and therefore must be 
memorized, it is assumed that the lecture method is as good as any 
and is recommended in the interest of time economy. 

Illustration is by far the most effective method to be used by 
the speaker in presenting new ideas. The three step plan for the 
"sale" of new ideas herein presented is designed to be especially 
effective when the illustration method is used. 

Various combinations of methods may be used according to the 
requirements of the case in hand. 

While the plan and the methods to be used in presentation have 
been offered as a means to aid persons in becoming effective in con- 
versation and discussion, it is in order to remind the foreman that 
the same plan will be found effective and the same methods applicable 
during instruction of workers and apprentices. The same general 
rules apply in all cases and are as follows: 

1 — Preparation of the mind of the customer or student to receive 
the new ideas to be presented. 

2 — Effective presentation of the complete idea, together with 
related empirical information, during which the hearer or student 
is led to do his own thinking on the question. 

3 — Application of the new idea to the job or a demonstration 
of the new idea by the student through performance of the operation 
or process. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — State three common errors of chairmen of meetings. 

2 — Write a one-hundred word account of how a chairman should 

proceed to obtain "strict observance of time allowance." 
3 — In case a member of the group goes beyond the alloted time, 

how would you, as chairman, go about it to^cause him to yield 

the floor? 



12 ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION 

4 — Give one instance of "reflection of business from within, from 

without." 
5 — Can the foreman hope to succeed in a business in which he 

does not believe? Why? 
6 — What is the relation between the salesman about whom it is 
said, "The first duty of the salesman is to believe in the goods 
he is to sell," and the foreman? 
7 — Give an instance of a speech which may be delivered in a 

belligerent or antagonistic manner. 
8 — Give an instance wherein a speech may not be delivered in a 

belligerent or antagonistic manner. 
9 — Select three ideas and write a letter selling them to the group. 
10 — Give an instance wherein is illustrated the fact that "Order in 

conversation depends upon the method of organization." 
11 — Select any idea and present it, using the three step plan. 
12 — Give an instance of the use of experiment in presentation, 

demonstration, lecture or statement, illustration. 
13 — Give an instance in which more than one method may be used 

in presentation. 
14 — Describe the teaching of a simple operation in your trade or 

pursuit. 
15 — Make up a list of ten production proverbs taken from this topic. 

NOTE: By a production proverb is meant a statement expressing a truth having a 
vital application to business. Examples: "Churches, schools and the press are 
usually the cultural reflection of our best businesses." "Order, that first law of 
life, should appear in conversation as well as in all other means of expression." 



Topic No. 2 
OCCUPATIONAL ANALYSIS 

PROCESSES AND OPERATIONS, AND WORKERS 

Occupational analysis consists of dividing and listing the 
tasks usually assigned to one or more persons engaged in one particular 
occupation. The list should be prepared under two general divisions: 
Processes and operations, and workers. Inasmuch as processes and 
operations are encountered only through the agency of workers, the 
employee should receive first consideration in analysis. 

Each employee who acts independently of other workers should 
be given a number and that number entered upon a separate page 
in a note book. 

Workers who are engaged in operations and processes, or in 
handling materials or combinations of materials, unlike those pro- 
cesses and materials encountered by other workers, should be listed 
under the caption Special workers. 

In case the worker does not act independently of other employees, 
he should be given a number and that number together with those 
of his associates should be entered on the same page. An instance 
of such associated entry would be a number to represent a gang 
engaged in unloading coal from a car. For convenience, such a 
group may be listed on one page as a common crew, and given the 
common number referred to above. 

The special worker in one plant may be known as a general 
workman. In that case he may perform many different operations 
in different processes and use many kinds of materials. 

In another plant which is highly specialized the worker may be 
employed to perform certain important independent operations. In 
the latter case he would be a specialist within the common under- 
standing of the term as well as within the meaning of this topic. 

The test of a special worker is whether he is regularly engaged 
in operations or processes or in handling of materials distinctly 

13 



14 OCCUPATIONAL ANALYSIS 

unlike those operations or processes or materials regularly encountered 
by other workers. 

Foremen should be careful to avoid extreme analysis. The 
chemist who uses a microscope in the laboratory would be considered 
ridiculous if he should use a microscope to examine each brick while 
building a garage. 

An example of extreme analysis would be listing drill press 
operators as special workers, merely because the various operators 
drill holes varying slightly in size in metals whose treatment during 
drilling requires slightly different knowledge. 

The extent to which the analysis should be carried will depend 
to a great extent upon the importance of the operations or processes or 
materials with which the special worker is engaged. 

If the operation is of enough importance to be considered subject 
matter for the instruction of workers and apprentices, it should be 
considered important enough to list separately in the analysis. 

For ordinary purposes it will be found convenient to place 
operations or processes or materials which have many things in 
common, together in one group and designate workers who engage in 
such common jobs as a common crew. 

Another mistake in classification would be that of placing jobs 
of very different characteristics together and considering those 
persons engaged in doing them to be a common crew. In many 
cases common jobs and independent jobs are easy to classify. In 
other cases foremen will have more difficulty in classification. In 
such cases foremen will need to exercise judgment resulting from 
experience in training workers and apprentices. 

Several pages in a five by seven inch note book should be set 
aside for analyses of the jobs of each special worker, and each common 
crew. 

Under the respective headings (common crew and special 
worker) should be listed all processes or operations in the order of 
accomplishment. Each process or operation should be given a 
number. 



OCCUPATIONAL ANALYSIS 15 

Example No. 1 
Common Crew No. 1 
Numbers of associated workers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 
Operation 1— Unloading coal 
2 — Unloading sand. 

Example No. 2 
Special Worker No. 1 
Operation 1 — Drilling hole in C. I. cylinder head 
2 — Drilling holes in steel band. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1. — What kind of worker would a carpenter be who does flooring, 
framing, siding, roofing and finishing? Why? 

2 — List all the special workers in your department. Give your 
reasons for considering them special workers. 

3 — Which of the following are special workers, and which are 
common crews: a — Five dock laborers, — 1 trucking boxes, 4 
trucking barrels? b — Five dock laborers, — 3 trucking boxes, 1 
operating a windlass, 1 hooking and unhooking boxes to and 
from the windlass rope? c — Five dock laborers, — 4 transferring 
salt from a steamer, 1 engaged in transferring dynamite from 
the boat to the dock? 

4 — Which kind of worker is required to have the greater intelligence, 
a special worker or a member of a common crew? 

5 — If three inexperienced young men, of equal desirability in other 
lines, one having left school in the fifth grade, one during the 
eighth grade and one a high school graduate, should apply for 
jobs in your plant, which of the three would you assign to a 
special job? A common job? 

6 — A machine shop has a department employing three men grinding 
castings, five men operating drill presses, drilling holes varying 
but slightly in size in materials requiring very little difference 
in treatment such as maleable iron, cast iron, wrought iron, 
etc., and one drill press operator drilling similar sized holes in 
similar materials, the holes in the latter case being required to 



16 OCCUPATIONAL ANALYSIS 

be drilled much more accurately than those by the other five 
operators; indicate the common crews and the special workers. 

7 — In the process of printing a hand bill, some of the following 
operations may be encountered: 1, starting the press; 2, inking 
the type; 3, cutting paper to size; 4, setting the type; 5, taking 
the paper off the press; 6, reading the proof; 7, placing the 
paper on the press. Arrange the operations in the order of 
accomplishment. 

8 — In the making of brick, there are several processes each made 
up of many operations. Some processes in brick making are as 
follows: 1 — baking the brick; 2 — digging the shale; 3 — hauling 
the shale to the mixing sheds; 4 — forming the brick. Arrange 
the processes in their order of accomplishment. 

9 — Give one instance of an analysis of a job in your department 
which would be considered an extreme analysis. 
10 — Give an instance of an analysis which at first would appear to 

be extreme, and which later might prove valuable. 
11 — Give an instance of how you could make use of an analysis in 
instruction of workers and apprentices in your department. 



Topic No. 3 

INSTRUCTION OF WORKERS AND APPRENTICES 

The tendency in modern industry is toward the establishment 
of training departments, separate from production activities. In 
such departments, production is generally considered a by-product 
of instruction. 

Three types of instruction prevail in industrial training: 
1 — Trade preparatory 
2 — Trade extension 
3 — Related instruction. 

Trade preparatory classes are generally termed vestibule 
classes. This term is used to indicate that the training is carried on 
outside the industry, while a vital connection is maintained between 
training and industry. The student is expected to pass through the 
vestibule before entering the industry. Trade preparatory classes 
are not intended to become trade schools, where persons are taught 
complete trades. Vestibule classes are intended to prepare persons 
for advantageous entrance upon a trade or pursuit. 

The foreman is not interested in the operation of the vestibule 
class, his sole interest in trade preparatory training being in the 
character of the workers assigned to his department from such a 
class. In this regard he can promote the welfare of his own depart- 
ment by close cooperation with the training department in suggestions 
regarding requirements, limitations, etc. 

Trade extension classes are organized to give additional 
instruction and training in occupational practice. Four kinds of 
jobs are recognized in modern industry. They are as follows: 

1 — Service 
2 — Production 
3 — Technical 
4 — Professional. 

17 



18 INSTRUCTION OF WORKERS AND APPRENTICES 

Service jobs are those jobs which, while not actually resulting 
in production, do render production easier or cheaper by the supply 
and delivery of materials or by the preparation of auxiliary equip- 
ment. Service jobs are generally performed by unskilled or semi- 
skilled labor. Some service jobs are loading and unloading of raw 
and finished materials, erecting of stagings, etc. 

Production jobs are those jobs which actually result in the 
changing of materials either in shape, form or nature of content. 
Production jobs are generally performed by skilled labor. 

Technical jobs are jobs which, while not actually resulting in 
production, do render production easier or cheaper by supplying data, 
preparing tools or equipment and preparing materials for production. 
Some technical jobs are drawing, laying out, tool-making and design- 
ing. Technical jobs always require some knowledge of related 
science, drawing, mathematics or English, in addition to a working 
knowledge of production operations. 

Professional occupations in industry are occupations related 
to production, requiring a thorough knowledge of the application of 
related science, mathematics, drawing and English. Entrance 
qualification for a professional occupation is college training or its 
equivalent. Some professional occupations are mechanical, civil, 
electrical and chemical engineering. 

One of the principal causes of industrial unrest is the blind alley 
job. Every normal person is ambitious. He wants to succeed. He 
wants to grow. Wages alone will not satisfy. Conditions can not 
be offered which will bring permanent contentment. An avenue 
must be opened in every business whereby advancement is possible. 
The natural avenue of development and promotion in industry is 
from service to production, from production to technical and from 
technical to professional occupations. 

A modification of Richard's formula reads M + TK+ AK = E. 
Manipulation plus Technical Knowledge plus Auxiliary Knowledge 
equals Efficiency. Manipulations are the doing things. Technical 
Knowledge is that knowledge which is absolutely necessary to 
manipulation. Auxiliary knowledge is that knowledge which, while 



INSTRUCTION OF WORKERS AND APPRENTICES 19 

not being absolutely necessary to manipulation, does render manipula- 
tion easier, cheaper or more interesting. Service, production and 
technical jobs will be found to require technical knowledge to the 
extent that they require manipulation. Skill in production is a 
result of technical knowledge. Professional occupations will require 
a greater amount of auxiliary knowledge. The college graduate who 
has the AK will remain ordinary until he obtains, through experience, 
a knowledge of manipulation. Likewise the worker who has the 
M plus TK, will remain ordinary until he adds to skill, the auxiliary 
knowledge which will make it easier and cheaper for him to 
manipulate. 

Foremen have always been held responsible for the training of 
workers in production and there are reasons to believe that such 
will always be the case. 

Assuming that the foreman will be expected to train workmen, 
it is only fair to offer a few suggestions with reference to the art 
of teaching'. 

Included in the technical and auxiliary knowledge which the 
foreman will present, will be found certain empirical information 
which may not be reasoned upon. It will not admit of discussion. 
Such information must be memorized. Empirical information will 
be found to consist of names, numbers, locations, and directions. 
When the things which may be reasoned upon have been separated 
from the things which must be told or shown, an analysis of the 
teaching content of the occupation has been begun. Such analysis 
will be found to follow the factors of the modified Richard's formula. 
The foreman who desires to function efficiently, as an industrial 
instructor, will analyze each job in the following order: 

Manipulations 

Technical knowledge 

Auxiliary knowledge 

Empirical information. 
In teaching the occupational lessons the same rules should be 
observed as were presented under Principles of Discussion, Topic 
No. 1. 



20 INSTRUCTION OF WORKERS AND APPRENTICES 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Which of the following students are trade preparatory students? 
Trade extension? Students of related instruction? a — A 
machinist who is preparing himself to increase his usefulness in 
his trade by studying mathematics in evening school, b — A 
machinist who plans to extend his usefulness by attending an 
evening class in sheet metal work, c — A machinist whose daily 
work relates to the repair of printer's machinery, who studies 
in evening classes, the latest practices of his trade. 

2 — Let PF = Professional Job 

P = Production Job 
T = Technical Job 
S = Service Job 
B. A. E. = Blind Alley Exit. 

Arrange the above formula in the order of the progress of a 
worker. 

3 — Select a simple job in your trade and record the manipulations, 
the technical knowledge, the auxiliary knowledge, and the 
empirical information relating to the job. 

4 — Indicate the M, TK, AK, and the empirical information of the 
following: 

A carpenter is assigned to the job of marking a board to be 
sawed. In order to mark the board he has to know where to 
mark, what to mark with, how to mark, etc. He must measure, 
apply a lining instrument, mark, etc. He may know that the 
wood is soft or hard, and that some pencils may stain the wood 
etc. He should know the names of tools, such as pencil, scriber, 
marking gage, bevel gage, tri-square, etc. 

5 — List the jobs in your department recording M, TK, AK, and 
empirical information as follows: 



INSTRUCTION OF WORKERS AND APPRENTICES 21 
NAME OF JOB 



M 


TK 


AK 


Empirical inform. 











6 — Select a simple job and write a detailed account of how you 
would teach the job to a "green" worker. 



Topic No. 4 
MAINTENANCE OF ORDER 

DISCIPLINE, ORDERS, DIRECTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 

Maintenance of order is a recognized necessity in any enter- 
prise. Order is the first law of growth. Discipline is necessary if 
order is to be maintained. There is a difference, however, between 
maintenance of discipline and the enforcement of discipline. Dis- 
cipline should be self-enforced, rather than enforced by a foreman. 
If the foreman is a person who is orderly in his habits, personal and 
otherwise, he will have laid the foundation for effective maintenance 
of discipline in his department. That discipline, which is the result 
of continual reproof, is always maintained at the expense of the 
patience and the energy of the foreman which could be used to 
better advantage in other ways. Few persons are incapable of self- 
discipline. Most persons prefer order to disorder. The foreman 
will do well to reflect upon this fact when directing the workers 
under his charge. It may be safely assumed that ninety-nine cases 
of disorderliness out of one hundred are directly traceable to poor 
f oremanizing rather than to neglect on the part of the worker. Some 
common errors conducive to disorderliness are as follows: 

1 — Failure to treat every one alike 

2 — Belligerent attitude 

3 — Familiarity 

4 — Assumption of personal policy 

5 — Failure to understand the relative values of orders, directions 
and suggestions 

6 — Lack of technical and auxiliary knowledge, on the part of 
the foreman, of the processes or operations he is supervising. 

Failure to accord every one in the department the same 
consideration, will certainly result in the formation of cliques and 
in misunderstandings. Success for the foreman depends upon team 
work. Rivalry in striving toward a common aim is sometimes 

22 



MAINTENANCE OF ORDER 23 

helpful but it must be good natured. The foreman who seeks to 
establish such rivalry by means of special attention to individuals, is 
inviting certain failure. If a pleasant greeting is spoken to one person 
it should be so worded, that, when repeated, it will apply equally as 
well to each person in the department. "Playing favorites" is the 
most certain means of destroying that team work upon which modern 
industry is dependent. 

Some foremen adopt a belligerent attitude toward their workers, 
in order to impress them with their superiority. Such conduct is a 
survival of the ancient period in industrial development when fear 
was the chief interest factor. 

Foreman belligerency was in vogue before significance 
was attached to labor turnover. Foremen who resort to this 

practice, assume that their workers must be driven and eventually 

find that the driving becomes more and more difficult. Foremen 

would do well to adapt the famous remark of Abraham Lincoln to 

their own jobs: "You can drive some of the people all of the time, 

all of the people some of the time, but you can not drive all of the 

people all of the time." The better way is not to try to fool or 

drive any of them, any of the time. The peculiar result of belligerency 

on the part of a foreman is that it always results in the foreman 

becoming ridiculous before his workers. This is because the situation 

is wholly unnatural and uncalled for. Such an attitude might be 

justified on the part of the skipper of a vessel, whose crew has been 

"shanghaied" and impressed into service. Such situations generally 

originate in the fertile brains of writers of cheap novels and movie 

scenarios. Any attempt on the part of a foreman to imitate such 

dime novel creations of fancy can not fail to result in ridicule of the 

would-be skippers. 

Familiarity is the opposite of belligerency. To become familiar 
is to invite discusssion by the workers, reveal weaknesses of super- 
visors and leave nothing to the imagination. It is human to err. 
Foremen are human. Many a man has enjoyed a reputation for 
strength, because he has stuck strictly to business and kept his 
weaknesses to himself. Discussion is a most effective method of 



24 MAINTENANCE OF ORDER 

revealing weaknesses. If the foreman would avoid being held in 
contempt by his workers he must avoid familiarity. Curiosity is 
one of the strongest human characteristics. It is natural to desire 
knowledge of the lives and thoughts of those whom we meet. If we 
wish to maintain that interest, we should leave as much for the 
imagination as possible. We may rest assured that as soon as we 
fail to stimulate the curiosity of our associates we shall henceforth 
be compelled to fight for recognition. Familiarity indicates a want 
of poise — and without poise the foreman will be unable to command 
respect. 

Assumption of policy authority by foremen generally 
results in personal animosities. Workers sometimes object to policies 
inaugurated by the company for which they work. While such 
objection may result in serious disturbance, it seldom is the cause 
of personal animosities. There are few workers who will show 
personal resentment toward a foreman for his enforcement of a com- 
pany policy even though that policy should be considered objection- 
able. The foreman will seldom be blamed but will often find himself 
in the fortunate situation of peacemaker. Many serious situations 
have been improved and much industrial unrest averted by the 
presence of a foreman who has the confidence and respect of the 
workers and of the management. Such a situation is made worse if 
the foreman establishes a reputation for inaugurating and enforcing 
policies of his own. The assumption of personal policy by the fore- 
man is always obnoxious to the workers and will eventually result 
in open warfare and increased labor turnover. If a foreman desires 
a policy installed, he will find it desirable to discuss it with the 
management and place it before the workers as a company policy. 

When a worker assumes, for the first time, the duties of foreman- 
ship, he must learn to use a set of tools different from those with 
which he has formerly been accustomed to perform his daily work. 
A carpenter who uses a saw, hammer and plane, will require new tools 
when he assumes a f oremanship. The tools of the foreman are orders, 
directions and suggestions, and with these three tools he performs all 
the work to which he is assigned. The mechanic who uses a wrench 



MAINTENANCE OF ORDER 25 

for a hammer, is not merely guilty of misuse of tools, but is setting 
a bad example to others. There is a time to order, a time to direct, 
and a time to suggest. To misuse these foreman tools, is to waste 
time, set a bad example and appear ridiculous. The belligerent 
foreman always orders. The familiar foreman always suggests. 
Whatever directing either does is weakened by his attitude. In 
giving orders, directions or suggestions, the following points should 

be borne in mind: 

What is it about? 

To whom is it delivered? 

Whom does it concern? 

Where is it given? 
Orders are essentially of military character and do not admit 
of discussion. To qualify an order, always weakens it. An order 
may be given to highly intelligent workers or to persons of low 

mentality. 

A suggestion always admits of discussion and is therefore given 
only to persons of intelligence. If there is but one way to do a thing, 
the thing should be ordered done that way. If there are several 
ways to do a thing, and the worker is intelligent and can be trusted 
to choose between methods, the foreman may suggest. The more 
highly trained person is more capable of receiving suggestions than 
the less trained worker. 

Directions concern the technique of an order or suggestion. 
Orders may be said to concern what is to be done. Directions may 
be said to concern how it is to be accomplished. Suggestions may 
concern either what or how. An order should be given in such a 
manner as to leave no doubt in the mind of the person receiving it, 
as to the intention of the one giving the order, and yet it should be 
so delivered as to give no offense. A common error of the untrained 
foreman is to issue his orders in such a manner as to give 1 offense. 
A good rule to observe with regard to orders, is, first to make sure 
that the matter is one which will not admit of discussion and then 
to deliver the order without qualifications and in an impersonal 
manner. Excuses should not be offered for giving orders. If a 



26 MAINTENANCE OF ORDER 

foreman has sympathy for the person to whom the order is given, 
it should be expressed in a practical way during the execution of the 
order. The foreman should be explicit in giving directions. Sequence 
should be observed in giving directions, each detail being arranged 
in the order of accomplishment. 

Lack of technical knowledge on the part of the foreman 

frequently results in failure to maintain order. The foreman must 
be just a little better all-round workman than any person in his 
department, if he is to maintain the respect of his workers. Just 
as self-respect is a direct result of and in proportion to the practice 
of self-restraint, so is the maintenance of order in a group, a direct 
result of higher efficiency on the part of the leader. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Why does continued reproof make discipline more difficult? 

2 — How would you go about it to encourage self-discipline? 

3 — What do you understand by orderly personal habits? 

4 — Give one orderly industrial habit, disorderly. 

5 — Give an instance of each of the six common errors of foremanship. 

6 — As a foreman, what tools do you use? 

7 — What is the test of an order as distinguished from a suggestion? 

8 — Which are the more capable of receiving suggestions, members 

of a common crew or special workers? 
9 — Write an account of the production of an article during which 

orders, suggestions and directions are used. 
10 — Give an instance of an order in which a direction is used. 
11 — What do you understand by the delivery of an order in an 

impersonal manner? 
12 — Which one of the foreman's tools requires the greatest exercise 

of technical knowledge? 
13 — Why does the assumption of personal policy by the foreman 

result in labor turnover? 
14 — List ten production proverbs found in this topic. 



Topic No. 5 
ENFORCEMENT OF COMPANY POLICIES 

National and state laws, and municipal ordinances are of three 

kinds : 

1 — Common law 

2 — Statutory law 

3 — Judicial decisions. 

Common law is the basis of all law and represents the sum of 
the experience of all affected persons. It is the accepted practice, 
approved by past generations. 

Statutory laws, while based upon the common law, are designed 
to insure cooperation in new situations. As statutory laws become 
generally accepted, they become known as common law. 

Decisions are rendered from time to time, in cases involving 
the application of common and statutory laws. Such decisions 
become the law of precedent until such time as the law may be 

repealed. 

Company policies are the laws and ordinances for the govern- 
ment of persons interested in the business. Company policies, like 
laws and ordinances, are of three kinds: 

Common policy 
Statutory policy 
Official decisions. 
Common policies are those policies which have proven their 
value by continued application. An instance of a common policy is 
the rule against smoking in shops containing inflammable materials. 
Statutory policies are those policies inaugurated from time 
to time and designed to insure cooperation in new situations for 
which common policies do not provide. In lieu of the newspaper 
through which national and state laws and municipal ordinances are 
made public, the bulletin board is generally made use of in shops to 
inform interested persons regarding company policy. Some times, 
other means are used to obtain publicity for company policies, but 

27 



28 ENFORCEMENT OF COMPANY POLICIES 

whatever means are used, the object remains the same, to inform 
each and every person of the new policy. While policies may be 
written in the office and posted by persons from the office, they 
should no more be looked upon wholly as office policies than one 
would look upon state laws, as being solely the work of state house 
employees. 

Official decisions are rendered, in new situations, the decisions 
being based upon statutory or common policy. Industry must 
follow in the groove of progress, if it would grow. A company can 
no more afford to overlook the combined wisdom of past industrial 
experience than can statesmen ignore history while writing laws. In 
cases requiring decisions, it is of utmost importance that interested 
persons should be made to feel that the decision is really based 
upon a common practice of proven value. If a decision is unfavor- 
able to a person or group of persons, they should be allowed to 
understand that the decision has nothing personal in it. The surest 
means of conveying an impression that personal animosity enters 
into an unfavorable decision, is to allow an impression to prevail 
that at another time a favorable decision has been rendered as a 
personal favor. The most certain method of obtaining willing 
obedience to company policies is impersonal enforcement. 

In a great majority of cases the foreman is the one upon whom 
falls the duty of enforcing company policies. In many instances he 
renders decisions. It therefore becomes necessary that the efficient 
foreman should have knowledge of the common and statutory 
policies and official decisions of the company by which he is employed. 
These policies should be listed under the following headings: 

Safety 

Sanitation 

Production 

Delivery. 
All the policies of the company regarding safety, sanitation, 
production and delivery should be listed. After the list is completed, 
each policy should be marked C. or S. or D., as the case may require, 
to indicate whether it is a common or statutory policy or an official 
decision. 



ENFORCEMENT OF COMPANY POLICIES 29 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Give an instance of an official decision in your plant which has 
become a statutory policy, a common policy. 

2 — Give an instance of one common policy in force in your business, 
a statutory policy, an official decision. 

3 — List all the policies in force in your plant. After the list is 
completed, mark them C. or S. or D., as the case may be. The 
list should be prepared under the four headings of safety, sanita- 
tion, production and delivery. 

4 — Find three production proverbs in this topic. 



Topic No. 6 
PROMOTION OF INTEREST 

Interest is that bond by which each individual is made to feel 
ownership of that in which he is concerned. The degree of interest 
manifested, depends largely upon the employment of means for stim- 
ulating the natural desires and instincts of persons in whom a develop- 
ment of interest is desired. Those means of development are usually 
referred to, as interest factors. Some interest factors are as follows: 
Ambition, pride, praise, criticism, self-respect, and curiosity. Fear 
is sometimes regarded as an interest factor but is so seldom per- 
manently effective that it is not included in this discussion. 

Ambition is a most potent influence in the lives of men and 
women, urging them on to unremitting effort in the accomplishment 
of their hearts' desires. Normal persons are ambitious. Different 
persons may display entirely different ambitions but the motive 
force behind the efforts of each will be the same, in kind and amount, 
provided they are equally ambitious. Present surroundings should be 
utilized and present moments improved if ambitions are to be realized. 
He who marks time while waiting for a better point of attack, will 
never realize his ambitions. Each passing moment should be shaped 
to fit into the fabric of our dream. John D. Rockefeller began his 
career of oil magnate as a ditch digger. Henry Ford dreamed of his 
present factory while chipping castings in a foundry. Caruso, the 
great tenor, drove rivets while employed in an Italian boiler shop. 
Lloyd George learned something about directing the affairs of Great 
Britain while mending shoes in a Welsh village. Rockefellers, Carusos 
and Lloyd Georges are found in every community. In every case, 
they are efficient wherever they are found. 

It has been well said that "Success is nine-tenths perspiration 
and one-tenth inspiration." It is not enough to encourage ambition, 
the foreman should also point out that the best way to realize the 
ambition is to make the most of present opportunities. Without 
ambition one is dead. Morale is impossible where ambition does 

30 



PROMOTION OF INTEREST 31 

not prevail. If one can not connect his life dreams with his present 
job, he owes it to society and to himself to go elsewhere. The only- 
real misfit is that person whose ambition runs counter to his daily 
employment. A foreman who does not know the ambitions of his 
workers is in much the same position as a general who is ignorant of 
the equipment of his own forces. It is the duty of every foreman to 
lead each worker to see that the path toward the achievement of 
his dream lies directly through his present job. Industry is, and 
should be, recognized to be a great progressive training ground for 
life's larger opportunities. 

The untrained foreman will need to guard against the job being 
sidetracked for the ambition. It is a mistake to imagine that "The 
higher the ambition is, the better will the work be done." There is 
some danger that the work may not be done at all. The job should 
be considered as the telescope through which the ambition is glimpsed. 
The worker should be encouraged to keep his eye on his job. 

Job pride is closely akin to ambition. It may be said to be 
ambition localized. Every worker should be made to feel that there 
is something in the work he is doing in which he can take pride. 
Few great inventions have resulted from deliberate intention to invent 
a new machine or process. Most of them have resulted from an 
earnest endeavor to improve the equipment or processes then in 
vogue. The history of the rise of every worker from the workshop 
to a position of power and influence, is the record of job pride. 

Job pride must be cultivated if a business is to continue in the field. 
A worker without job pride is always an easy victim of the demagogue. 
A company that is doing business with workers who are without 
job pride is doing business on a narrow margin of safety. A com- 
pany whose workers are thrilled with job pride, will succeed in spite 
of all obstacles. A foreman who does not understand how to instill 
job pride, is failing in one of the most important services a foreman 
should perform. While competition is sometimes relied upon as a 
means of stimulating job pride, the surest and safest method is to 
treat job pride as localized ambition, and lead each worker to see his 
life's ideal, through his job. Job pride, whether it is manifested 



32 PROMOTION OF INTEREST 

through increased production or improved quality, should never be 
allowed to go unnoticed and unrewarded. 

Praise is essential to the encouragement of job pride. Praise, 
however, is the most dangerous implement the foreman may employ. 
Like dynamite, it should be used sparingly with a view to accomplish- 
ment of the desired end. 

The foreman who would employ praise, should remember that 
some persons are violently opposed to being praised. They are 
generally persons who have endured the flattery of some thoughtless 
individual from whom they could not escape, or who have suffered 
treachery from flatterers. Flattery will eventually destroy every 
instinct contributing to job pride. The foreman who wishes to 
build up and maintain an efficient working force, must avoid flattery, 
if he is to succeed. 

Praise differs from flattery in that praise is earned. Praise 
should never be given except as acknowledgement of accomplish- 
ment. Even then, it is better to give praise in an indirect manner. 
In case some one does well, it is much better to mention the fact 
to some mututal friend, for in that manner the foreman not only 
praises the worthy effort of one worker, but stimulates his friends to 
duplicate his performance. Care should be exercised that the person 
to whom acknowledgement is made, is really a friend or the praise 
may be converted, in passing, into disapproval. 

If possible, the foreman should endeavor to show his approval 
of meritorious performance by advancement or promotion or by 
granting some reward which the foreman believes to be commensurate 
with the performance. Each foreman should carefully record all 
requests made by workers and when job pride is manifested in any 
way, it should be possible to extend recognition by granting a pro- 
portionate reward at just the right time. 

Criticism is not to be understood to mean merely fault finding. 
By criticism is meant constructive comment. Foremen should avoid 
critical remarks unless it is possible to point out the error. This is 
one important reason why the foreman should possess a greater 
degree of technical knowledge than those over whom he exercises 



PROMOTION OF INTEREST 33 

authority. Sometimes a foreman can be most helpful by over- 
looking an error. The conscientious worker will not fail to appreciate 
such thoughtfulness and will at once understand that it requires 
more strength of will to allow an error to pass apparently unnoticed 
than to call it to the attention of the worker. 

While it may seem best to let an error pass unnoticed, it is 
always best to allow the worker to know that the foreman knows. 
No greater error can be committed than for the foreman to gain a 
reputation for failure to observe either mistakes or meritorious per- 
formances. The foreman should see everything and every worker 
should realize that the foreman sees, but it is not always necessary 
that the foreman should remark. 

If, in the opinion of the foreman, the performance deserves 
correction, criticism should be offered as a lesson in trade extension. 
A good rule to follow in offering criticism, is to offer it only when 
convinced that the error is a result of poor training. In other words, 
whenever the mistake is due to ignorance, the foreman should function 
as an instructor and proceed in an impersonal manner to teach the 
worker the technique of the manipulation. Deliberate carelessness may 
seem at times to call for criticism. Carelessness will be treated 
during the discussion of another topic. 

Self-respect is an attribute which will aid materially in pro- 
moting interest in an industry. Self-respect is prior to, and a part 
of respect for others. Self-respect will reveal itself in personal 
appearance, home atmosphere, and in business surroundings, in so 
far as they may be under, or within, the control of the individual. 

One of the surest signs of a poorly trained foreman is his 
determination to break the wills of workers and to demand that the 
foreman's will be substituted for the worker's will in every instance. 
Men and women are happiest when thinking creative thoughts. 
When big business is offering high salaries in a vain search for brains 
to direct industry, it is a sad sight to behold a foreman refusing to 
permit creative thinking. Many a worker was spoiled for leadership 
through having had the misfortune of learning the business under 
foremen who refused to permit him to think independently. 

3 



34 PROMOTION OF INTEREST 

Self-respect is a direct result of self-restraint and is exercised 
through independent thinking. In addition to promoting self- 
respect through independent action and thought, this valuable char- 
acteristic may be encouraged in many other ways, some of which 
are: Clean language, clean habits, manly or womanly conduct, etc. 
This topic has dealt with the interest factor of self-respect from a 
production standpoint. 

Curiosity is generally considered an interest factor in production 
^ut it would seem at best a doubtful one. Curiosity in manipulation, 
plainly indicates lack of experience because the experienced worker 
is not curious with regard to those jobs he has encountered many 
times. Curiosity manifested in manipulation is very good evidence 
that the worker will bear watching. Curiosity is useful to the fore- 
man as a means of stimulating a desire to earn promotion and advance- 
ment. In the latter instance the means of arousing this interest 
factor are so evident that further discussion would be useless. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Give instances of how ambition, pride, praise, criticism, self- 
respect, and curiosity may be used to stimulate production in 
your plant. 

2 — How would you go about it to interest a worker in a job which 
he regards as monotonous, dirty and without a future? 

3 — If a worker is not interested in the growth of the business, and 
does not manifest an interest in quality or quantity of pro- 
duction, how would you proceed in order to awaken his interest? 

4 — What is the relation between instruction of apprentices and 
workers and the promotion of interest? 

5 — Write an account of a conversation about a job in your depart- 
ment in which criticism occurred. 

6 — How would you go about it to inspire self-respect in a worker 
who had lost his self-esteem? 

7 — What is the difference between a "swell headed" person and a 
self-respecting person? 



PROMOTION OF INTEREST 35 

8 — How would you proceed to convince a "swell headed" worker 
that he is in need of instruction? 

9 — Why is the practice of "putting the swelled head up against a 
hard job" an error in foremanizing? 

10 — Why is "curiosity manifested in manipulation very good 
evidence that the worker will bear watching? " 

11 — How may "curiosity be useful to the foreman as a means of 
stimulating a desire to earn promotion and advancement? " 

12 — Make a list of twenty production proverbs taken from this 
topic. 



Topic No. 7 
FIRST AID 

Usually the less said by any one outside the medical profession 
on the subject of first aid, the better. There are, however, some 
points which will bear discussion which do not have to do with the 
actual administration of medical or surgical assistance. This topic 
will be confined to those questions, which may be safely discussed 
by persons who have not received medical or surgical training. 
For convenience the topic will be treated in three divisions: 

1 — Company policy 

2 — Infection 

3 — Confusion. 

First aid has an intimate connection with labor turnover and 
therefore is of interest to the foreman. It is particularly this phase 
of first aid that should receive consideration in this topic. 

COMPANY POLICY 

Each foreman should know his company's policies, regarding 
first aid to the injured. These policies should be listed in the order 
of their importance. 

First aid is sometimes considered sentimentally in the factory 
and workshop. Sympathy is aroused when an accident is witnessed. 
The injured one receives the attention of every one who can be of 
assistance. All that may be done to alleviate pain, to save life and 
to hasten recovery, should be afforded the injured. Such action at 
these times strengthens the morale and improves the fraternal feeling 
so necessary to the maintenance of a fine working spirit. Like 
every thing else, this manifestation of sympathy can be overdone. 
It should be borne in mind that the injured person is not nearly so 
much in need of sympathy as of care. 

First aid assistance should be an organized assistance. If 
medical attendants are not present, certain persons in every group 

36 



FIRST AID 37 

should be prepared to administer temporary aid. All such assistants 
should be selected and instructed by the physician in charge. 

In case of an accident it is natural for every one in sight to 
gather about the injured person. There are two important reasons 
for not "ganging up" about an injured worker. First: The injured 
one is in need of air. Second: It is of utmost importance that the 
injured person remain calm and unexcited. It is the height of 
refined cruelty for supposed friends to gather about a fallen shop 
mate, their faces registering pity, while speaking in funeral tones 
about the accident. It is surprising how many workers survive 
these ordeals and return to their jobs and families. 

If a company policy is inaugurated to prevent crowding about 
injured workers, it becomes the foreman's duty to see that workers 
do not misunderstand the purpose of the policy. Workers should 
be led to see that the company's policy is intended as a humanitarian 
measure and that the enforcement will be rigid. 

Foremen should have uppermost in their minds the welfare of 
the workmen when enforcing first aid policies, and should give an 
impression of personal interest not only to the injured but to the 
worker who has violated the rule as well. The conscientious foreman 
will always show a genuine interest in each worker in his department 
on all occasions. When a foreman has established that feeling of 
mutual interest and trust he will have gone a long way toward 
obtaining cooperation in production as well as in first aid. 

INFECTION 

Many accidents are in themselves unimportant, but result in 
extended illness and loss of time to the family and the business. In 
most instances, these apparently simple cases are traceable to infec- 
tion resulting from unclean bandages, or from the use of nostrums 
and "curealls" by those persons administering first aid. Cleanliness 
should be the first law in temporary first aid. 

Too many injuries are "treated with contempt " in factories. 
Foolish young persons sometimes think that it is a sign of strength 
to ignore slight injuries. In all such cases the foreman should not 



38 FIRST AID 

fail to exercise his authority and order the worker to give proper 
attention to the injury. In many instances the person will be 
secretly glad to feel that he is compelled to observe an inflexible 
rule and to give attention to a "mere scratch." 

CONFUSION 

Confusion is a cause of much loss of life during administration 
of first aid. Prevention of confusion is without doubt one of the 
duties of a foreman. Some one must remain calm and continue to 
think clearly. That one, should be the person who is looked to at 
all other times as a leader. 

Workers naturally expect the foreman to take command during 
an accident and to direct the movements of those who are meeting 
the emergency. Leadership is always demonstrated at such times 
and if the foreman, whose duty it is to direct in emergencies, is 
unable to maintain order and obtain results, the natural consequence 
will be a loss of respect for him. 

Leadership is largely a result of careful preparation for emerg- 
encies. The foreman can anticipate his action in emergencies, by a 
careful analysis of possible accidents, and by deciding in advance 
how to meet them and how to avoid confusion. The wise foreman 
will prepare a list of probable accidents and with each accident 
record the action of each person needed in administration of first 
aid. Consultation with the physician or nurse in charge will assist 
the foreman to perfect his plan of action. 

The most common cause of confusion is dual authority and 

consequent conflicting orders. If the foreman is the one to be 

charged with leadership during the administration of first aid he 

should see to it that he and he alone is the one to issue orders. If 

some one else is designated as first aid man, then it is the duty of the 

foreman to lend to this person every assistance his position will allow. 

Some rules for avoiding confusion are as follows: 
Speak calmly. 
Speak distinctly. 

Speak just loudly enough to be heard distinctly. 
Be sparing of sympathetic expressions. 
Use orders rather than suggestions in first aid. 



FIRST AID 39 

A kindly attitude should be displayed during the whole time 
and especially while giving orders. It should not be forgotten that 
every person to whom an order is given is more than willing to carry 
it out. 

One final duty devolves uopn the foreman following the occur- 
rence of an accident. This is a result of the peculiar fact that "acci- 
dents come in bunches". In a large establishment several accidents 
will follow each other. It has been assumed that the cause of accident 
grouping is that the worker's thoughts are occupied with the first 
case and he fails to pay close attention to his own work, thereby 
falling victim to his own carelessness. The foreman can do much to 
prevent accident repetitions by immediately following each accident with 
a general inspection of each job in his department. During this in- 
spection, care should be observed to avoid reference to the accident; 
every effort should be made to get the worker's mind back to his 
work and away from the accident. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Why is it dangerous for uninformed persons to give medical aid? 

2 — List the policies of your company concerning first aid. 

3 — How many times each day do workers in your department find 
it necessary to have foreign bodies removed from their eyes? 
Who performs the operations? What instruments are used? 

4 — List all the first aid cases you can recall which have been treated 
during the past month in your department and write doctor, 
nurse, foreman or fellow workman after the entry to indicate 
who administered first aid. 

5 — How would you proceed to organize your department for suc- 
cessful first aid administration? 

6 — List several errors to be avoided by foremen in time of accident. 

7 — What do you understand by the foreman "following each acci- 
dent with a general inspection of each job in his department"? 

8 — List twelve production proverbs found in this topic. 



Topic No. 8 
CARE OF EQUIPMENT 

Care of equipment is one of the first duties of a foreman. 
No matter how highly skilled the worker may be, if the equipment is 
not kept up to a one hundred percent standard of efficiency, the de- 
partment will show a decreased production. Poor equipment will 
soon affect the worker. He will soon lose his interest, while acquiring 
a feeling that the management, after all, is not really interested in in- 
creasing the quality or the quantity of the output. It is not at all 
necessary that the equipment be renewed at regular intervals. On the 
contrary, new machinery sometimes results in decreased activity 
until the worker becomes accustomed to its newness. The important 
thing is to let the worker realize that the management is not overlook- 
ing any chance to keep the equipment up to the highest possible 
standard of performance. 

Equipment efficiency is the result of constant inspection, and 
attention to detail. For the purpose of analysis, care of equipment 
may be divided as follows: 

1 — Lubrication 

2 — Cleaning and painting 

3 — Ad j ustments 

4 — Repairs. 
Every foreman should have in his possession a detailed and an 
assembled drawing of each machime and each piece of equipment in 
his department. If the drawings can not be obtained from the manu- 
facturers, the engineering department of the local plant should be 
requested to furnish the prints. A simple sketch showing oil holes and 
working parts should be placed in the hands of the operator or fastened 
in a conspicuous place about the equipment. In case the company does 
not employ a draftsman, the foreman may make simple sketches for 
his own use, and that of the operator. 

It is the foreman's duty to see that each operator is familiar with 

40 



CARE OF EQUIPMENT 41 

the lubricating system of his equipment. The fact that an oiler is 
employed does not reduce this requirement. Machinery is usually 
stopped during the oiling process and in many cases the operator is 
near at hand where he can easily observe the manner in which the 
oiler does his work. So much depends upon proper lubrication that 
the few minutes devoted to oiling are never lost. In the absence of a 
company policy regarding lubrication, expert advice should be sought 
regarding the kinds of oils and greases to be used on various equip- 
ment. The foreman should be careful to convey all such information 
to interested workers. 

Cleaning of equipment at regular intervals is an important 
detail in the care of equipment. It is not the equipment alone which 
benefits from a policy of maintaining clean tools. Job pride and self 
respect may be stimulated while encouraging the worker in habits 
of cleanliness of equipment. A worker who voluntarily keeps a clean 
machine or bench will be likely to have clean thoughts. His conver- 
sation will have a tendency to be clean and his attitude toward his 
fellows and the company will be apt to be "above board" and gen- 
erous. Habits of cleanliness in the workshop will reveal themselves 
on the profits pages of the ledger. Standards of cleanliness should be 
adopted and rigidly followed. Regular intervals of time may be 
allowed for cleaning, if a company policy does not prevent. Foremen 
will find it to their advantage to experiment in order to determine 
the amount of time required for cleaning various equipment. Just 
time enough should be allowed for the "standard cleaning". If an 
error is made in time allowance, it is better to allow too little than 
too much. In that case it will be an easy matter to increase the 
time, whereas, if too much time is allowed at first, a decrease will 
be accepted by supersensitive workers as a curtailment of their per- 
sonal liberties. If the company has a policy covering the point, the 
foreman should follow it scrupulously. As in all other cases, any 
new policy should be approved by the management before being 
inaugurated. 

Paint is a most useful preservative of equipment and is likewise 
a means^of stimulating pride on the part of the worker. A little 



42 CARE OF EQUIPMENT 

paint applied to equipment from time to time, is an effective way of 
notifying the worker that his equipment is considered worthwhile. 
It is evident to all who see, that the equipment is valued enough 
to keep it looking well. It is also a delicate compliment paid to the 
efficient worker, for he can not help but feel that he is appreciated • 

Adjustments should be made when first required, instead of 
waiting until damage has resulted from delay. Each piece of equip- 
ment should be studied with a view to discovering the wearing 
parts for which adjustments are provided. Each part should be 
listed in the order of severity of wearing strain or friction. When 
an adjustment is made, the data should be recorded. When each 
part has been adjusted once, adjustments can be anticipated with 
reasonable accuracy. No act of the foreman will serve better to 
impress the worker with the foreman's ability, than the simple dem- 
onstration of his knowledge of the equipment under his supervision. 
Many an inexperienced worker who has held some quiet-mannered 
foreman in contempt, has been brought up short, and made to 
right about face, by a simple display by the foreman, of a complete 
knowledge of a complex machine at a time when that knowledge 
was vital. There is a psychological moment for everything, and the 
foreman will do well to husband carefully his knowledge against the 
time when its use will be of greatest value. 

A useless display of knowledge has an effect of discounting its 
value. In addition, it sometimes produces the impression that the 
knowing one has but recently acquired the knowledge so glibly and 
inopportunely offered. 

Repairs may be anticipated to a large degree if the foreman has 
kept a careful record of adjustments. This is important if time 
is to be saved which would otherwise be lost while the worker is 
being transferred to another job. If repairs are anticipated, the 
worker may be prepared and thus saved the surprise of sudden 
change to another machine or job, and the shift may be made without 
loss of time. 

The most inefficient worker knows that foresight is a charac- 
teristic of the thoughtful foreman. Failure to demonstrate this 



CARE OF EQUIPMENT 43 

desirable foreman quality will lessen the respect of workers for the 
foreman. Foresight, like genius, is "nine-tenths perspiration and 
one-tenth inspiration". 

Failure to anticipate repairs except in cases of emergency, 
is always a result of incomplete records of performance and adjust- 
ment. Repairs, like adjustments, should be recorded with the date 
of the repairing. This is particularly true of bearing and wearing 
surfaces. A record, showing relative dates of like repairs, may 
indicate relative values of bearing materials. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Prepare rough sketches of each piece of equipment in your 
department, showing each adjustment and each oil hole. 

2 — What kind of oil is best suited for heavy, high speed machinery? 

3 — If you were certain the oil used on a piece of equipment is the 
wrong kind, how would you go about it to obtain a different 
quality? 

4 — Which is the more important to production: lubrication, clean- 
ing and painting, adjustments or repairs? 

5 — Should the foreman understand the proper installation of ma- 
chinery? Why? 

6 — What repairs will be necessary during the next sixty days to the 
equipment of your department? 

7 — -Prepare a list of adjustments made during the past thirty days 
on the equipment of your department. 

8 — Which of the three factors of the modified "Richard's formula", 
is most useful to the foreman in the care of equipment? 

9 — Make a list of twelve production proverbs taken from this topic. 



Topic No. 9 

RECORDS AND REPORTS 

The average foreman is interested in only three subjects for 
records and reports. These are the subjects in which the foreman 
is interested as a supervisor. They are as follows: 

1 — Production 
2 — Spoilage 
3 — Delivery. 
There are, however, a number of other records and reports, 
which are sometimes required, and which will not fit into either of 
these three. These records and reports have to do with human 
agencies, and are outside the supervisory duties of the foreman. They 
concern the following details: 

1 — Instruction of workers and apprentices 

2 — Enforcement of company policies 

3 — Promotion of interest 

4 — First aid 

5 — Care of equipment 

6 — Labor turnover 

7 — Materials 

8 — Safety first. 

Company policy will dictate the number and kind of reports 
to be made, and the manner of their construction. Whether or 
not the company policy requires reports on any or all of the eleven 
items mentioned above, the foreman, who is ambitious to go forward 
in his chosen business, will find record keeping to be a constant 
source of profit. 

RECORDS 

Inasmuch as all foremen are to be encouraged to keep records 
of their foreman experiences, recording will be given first considera- 
tion in this discussion. 

44 



RECORDS AND REPORTS 45 

Lack of system is usually a result of failure to analyze. Or- 
dinarily failure to keep records may be ascribed to lack of system. 

Production records which suggest themselves in connection 
with operations and processes should be listed according to the 
method set forth in Topic No. 2. Records should be brief, but under- 
standable. The form of entry of production records should be strictly 
in accordance with the analysis of operations and processes. 

A loose leaf book in which dividers are placed to provide a sep- 
arate part for each operation or process, is a very good arrange- 
ment. Production records should be listed under the following 
headings: 

1 — Requirements 
2 — Performances 
3 — Suggestions. 

Requirements will be dictated by company policy or delivery 
orders. 

Performances should be listed directly below the requirements 
and the differences recorded. 

Suggestions should be entered briefly with the ideas which 
may have occurred to the foreman together with those he has re- 
ceived from others which promise in any way to benefit the per- 
formance. Care should be observed to give due credit to all who 
present an idea which seems to have merit. 

Example 

Required delivery — 3,000 §"x4" sq. hd. bolts. 

Performance — 3,103 f "x4" sq. hd. bolts. 

Suggestion — Storekeeper should be notified at once of over 

supply in this size. 
Spoilage should be listed in the same manner as production. 
It should be entered with each operation and process under which 
the spoilage occurred. Spoilage should be recorded utfvder the fol- 
lowing headings: 

1 — Part or quantity of material 

2 — Causes 

3 — Suggestions. 



46 RECORDS AND REPORTS 

Under the first heading should appear a description of the 
articles or the quantity and kind of material spoiled. Under the 
second heading should be entered the probable cause of the spoilage. 
Under suggestions should be recorded any ideas the foreman or 
others may present for preventing such spoilage. As in case of 
production, care should be observed to record the names of all 
those who interest themselves enough to offer suggestions for im- 
proving production by reducing spoilage. 

Example 

Part or quantity of material spoiled — 20 f "x4" sq. hd. bolts 
Causes — Improper adjustments 

Suggestions — Worker is in need of instruction, above suggestion 
offered by worker himself. 

Delivery records should be entered as were production and 
spoilage with the corresponding operation or process. Delivery 
records should be listed as follows: 

1 — Requirements 
2 — Performance 
3 — Suggestions. 

Requirements should be entered with the quantity and the 
time, the time record constituting the essential difference between 
delivery and production records. Suggestions for delivery records 
should follow the form and manner set forth in production and 
spoilage. 

Records regarding the instruction of workers and appren- 
tices should be kept separately. A number of pages in the loose leaf 
book should be prepared with dividers for each separate operation or 
process. Each operation or process should be entered according to 
the number and character of learning difficulties it presents to the 
learner. The easiest operation or process should be entered first, 
proceeding from the least to the most difficult. The following 
information form should be filled in for each advancing job. 



RECORDS AND REPORTS 47 

Example 

Job — Molding brake shoes 

Job specification for training. See points 1-2 
Information record on learner. See points 3-4-5-6. 
1 — Previous experience necessary — Foundry experience 
2 — Type of worker — Strong-active-man 
3 — Name of person beginning training — John Doe 
4 — Date of beginning training — September 23, 1920 
5 — Date training was finished — October 20, 1920 
6 — Rating of worker — 85%. 
Information records, like all other instruction records, should 
not be accessible to workers. A worker whose rating while in training 
was very poor may become quite expert after becoming accustomed 
to production. If he should obtain knowledge of his poor showing, 
he may become discouraged and as a consequence the time devoted 
to instruction may be lost to the company. 

Enforcement of company policies, promotion of interest, first aid, 
labor turnover and safety first may be entered on pages provided in 
the loose leaf book, a divider being added for each item. 
Five headings should appear under company policies: 
1 — Nature of policy 
2 — Percentage of enforcement 
3 — Difficulty of enforcement 
4 — Instances of enforcement 
5 — Suggestions. 
Promotion of interest should be recorded under four headings, 
one page devoted to each worker. 

1 — Characteristics of person to be interested 
2 — Probable interest factors to be utilized 
3 — Success or failure of application of factors 
4 — Suggestions. 
Characteristics of persons to be interested may be obtained 
in part from the records devoted to instruction of workers and 
apprentices. 



48 RECORDS AND REPORTS 

First aid records may be listed under eight headings: 

1 — Probable accidents 
2 — Nature of accidents 
3 — Date of accident 
4 — Names of injured 

5 — Name of person in charge of first aid administration 
6 — Ultimate result of injury 
7 — Date of return of worker 
8 — Suggestions. 
Each accident should be recorded separately. 

Labor turnover should be listed according to jobs, each job 
being entered in the order of the degree of skill and training required. 

The listing will be found to follow the order used in recording 
the instruction of workers and apprentices, with the exception that 
several operations or processes may be grouped under one job, a job 
in this case being understood to mean the operations or processes 
for which one worker is held responsible. Instance: A job assigned 
to one machinist may include grinding valves, turning bolts, milling 
gears, etc. On the pay roll the worker may be listed as a general 
workman. 

It is not sufficient for labor turnover purposes merely to follow 
the payroll record. It is much better, first, to identify the job in 
some definite way, as general machinist (No. 1 or No. 2, etc.) and 
under that general heading to list all the operations and processes 
to which the worker may be assigned. Having identified the job in 
the department, the records should be entered in the following order: 

1 — Name of worker or workers 
2 — Dates workers commenced 
3 — Absences, regardless of cause 
4 — Dates of separations 
5 — Monthly labor turnover. 
Each job should be the subject of a separate record. 

Standards of production may be assumed to be maintained 
on each job. If that is true, each absence means double labor on 



RECORDS AND REPORTS 49 

that job for a period of time equal to the length of the absence, 
during regular hours or overtime. 

Absences should therefore be included in labor turnover com- 
putation. 

The extra labor power may not be applied at the time of the 
absence but it is assumed that maintenance of a production standard 
will eventually result in duplication of labor power on the job for 
the space of time equal to the time of absence. 

If the same worker is continued on the job throughout the 
month, the labor turnover will be the percentage of the regular 
working hours in the month (holidays not counted) shown in absences. 
Example: If there are 180 regular working hours in a month and 
the worker has been absent for any cause during 9 regular working 
hours, the percentage of absentee labor turnover for the month 
would be five. 

Ordinarily absences are not included in computation of per- 
centages of labor turnover, separations and replacements alone being 
considered. It is apparent, however, that absenteeism must enter 
into any accurate study of losses, due to shifting of labor. If a 
separation occurs during the month, the time lost while the worker 
is being replaced should be included as absenteeism in figuring labor 
turnover. 

Example 

Let S = Total number of separations or replacements on any 
one job, during one month 

Let H = Total number of regular working hours in the month 

Let A = Total hours of absence during one month 

Let T = Turnover percentage 

Formula (SxH+A)vH = T. 

Example S = 4 

H = 180 
A = 9 

(4 X 180 + 9) 4- H = 4.05 = 405% = Turnover percentage. 

Note — This formula is to be used in cases of stationary or ex- 
panding working forces. 



50 RECORDS AND REPORTS 

Safety first records should be listed under the following headings : 

1 — Avoidable dangers 

2 — Unavoidable dangers 

3 — Rules regarding avoidable dangers 

4 — Rules regarding unavoidable dangers 

5 — Methods of enforcement of rules 

6 — Violations and penalties 

7 — Suggestions. 
Probably no field offers greater opportunity to the foreman than 
does safety first, to manifest an interest in the welfare of his workers, 
while promoting his own interest. A careful record of safety first 
factors and activities will enable the foreman to maintain a reputa- 
tion for having a low accident percentage. Once established, such 
a record will become a source of pride not only to the worker himself 
but to the members of his family as well. A good safety first record 
generally goes a long way toward the maintenance of a low labor 
turnover. 

Records on materials and on care of equipment will require 
further space in the loose leaf book. Materials should be entered 
in the following form: 

1 — Raw materials on hand, with date 
2 — Raw materials ordered, with date 
3 — Finished materials on hand, with date 
4 — Suggestions. 
By "on hand" may be meant the presence of material either at 
the machine or in the store room. If the foreman's duties include 
supervision of the store room, supplies "on hand" would include 
raw or finished material in the store room. 

The far sighted foreman will save himself much of the incon- 
venience of being compelled to urge workers to maintain standard 
production by carefully keeping the raw materials on hand at the 
bench or machine at all times. The natural tendency of a willing 
worker who takes pride in performacne is to "clean up on the job." 
If a liberal supply of materials is always at hand the worker may 
be counted upon to form the excellent habit of steady performance. 



RECORDS AND REPORTS 51 

While the worker may not voice an opinion in the matter, he 
and every one else will feel that periods of idleness because of failure 
to deliver materials are generally evidence of poor supervision on 
the part of the foreman. 

Care of equipment records should include the following 
divisions: 

1 — Date of installation 

2 — Date and nature of adjustment 

3 — Date and nature of repairs 

4 — Date of replacement. 

Job Specification Record 

The specifications for a dwelling house set forth the quantity 
and quality of materials, the number and sizes of the doors and 
windows, the style and finish of the structure, etc. 

Job specification records set forth the characteristics to be 
required of persons who may qualify for the job and the number 
of such persons required. 

Example 

Job Specification Record 

Job — Truck driving 

Number of persons required — 10 

Kind of person required — Man 

Age limits — 18 to 40 

Activity — Very active 

Strength — Strong 

Education — Must be able to read and write and do simple sums 

in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division 
Experience — Must be sufficiently familiar with the truck he is 

to drive, to make emergency repairs. Must be a good safe 

driver. Must know the traffic rules and know the locality 

in which he is to drive. 
Other specifications might be required but the ones given above 
will serve to make up an example. 



52 RECORDS AND REPORTS 

If specifications were being prepared for aeroplane driving the 
age limits, education and experience would probably be quite different 
from the example given for truck driving. 

Personal Information Record 

Personal information records contain that information 
regarding persons being examined for positions which will determine 
whether the prospective employee fits the requirements of the job 
specification. 

Example 

Name — John Doe 

Age— 25 

Activity — Fairly active 

Strength — Strong 

Education — Graduate eighth grade 

Experience — Truck driver in this locality 3 years, familiar with 
trucks used by company. Is familiar with traffic regula- 
tions. 

Foremen should give close attention to both personal job speci- 
fications and personal information records. Eight of the eleven 
divisions of f oremanizing, as indicated by the kinds of records and 
reports required, are dependent upon these two records for their 
efficient administration. 

The foreman who neglects the job specification and the personal 
information record, is missing an opportunity to function as a fore- 
man. He is confining his activities to thbse of a supervisor. 

REPORTS 

Reports are usually dictated by company policy. Company 
policy may be either common, statutory, or the result of official 
decisions on the enforcement of statutory policies. Official decisions 
will be recognized as those required by office procedure. Reports 
resulting from common company policy are not always a result of 
stated requirements. Instance: The management may not have 



RECORDS AND REPORTS 53 

issued orders to foremen to report fires, but common policy in all 
businesses would direct that fires should be reported at once. 

For convenient listing of reports, additional space should be 
provided in the loose leaf book, a divider being used to separate 
reports from records. Reports should be entered under the general 
headings of Regular and Incidental. Regular reports are those 
regularly required. Incidental reports are those occasionally required 
or suggested. Each general division should be recorded in the 
following form: 

1 — Name of report 

2 — Date requested or suggested 

3 — Date returned or forwarded 

4 — Information supplied. 

In making reports it is important to furnish the information as 
quickly as possible. Many times the report is the only means by 
which the management may form an opinion of a foreman's ability. 
Modern busines is coming more and more to depend exclusively upon 
reports for evidence of efficiency of departments and individuals. 
The wise manager answers the statement that "personality counts" 
by calling attention to the fact that personality will reflect itself in 
the performance of a department. 

The day of the "Spellbinder" and "Hot air merchant" in industry 
passed with the adoption of the report method of recording progress. 
"The weak sister" who depends on "pull" for advancement, or who 
follows the foolish practice of "playing politics" to gain favor is 
always opposed to filling in reports. The foreman who has some- 
thing that will show well on paper, is always eager to report his 
progress. 

One common mistake of thoughtless foremen is to fail to 
report good performances for their workers whenever possible. 
Nature abhors a vacuum and the big soul abhors selfishness. Selfish 
souls like vacuums are always drawing upon others and never giving 
anything out. If the management is worthy of the name, it will 
appreciate the unselfish purpose which inspires a foreman to report 



54 RECORDS AND REPORTS 

the creditable performances of his workers. Entirely aside from 
the righteousness of the deed, the foreman will find that in con- 
sequence of favorable reports, his unfavorable reports are received 
without question. His unselfish action will have established for him 
a reputation for veracity which could have been obtained in no 
other manner. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Which of the eleven principal subject headings for records and 
reports given on the first page of this topic may be said to be 
of special interest to supervisors? To foremen? 

2 — Why is it true that, "Ordinarily failure to keep records may be 
ascribed to lack of system?" 

3— Prepare one sample record for each of the eleven items men- 
tioned in the topic. 

4 — Prepare one sample report for each of the eleven items men- 
tioned in the topic. 

5 — Prepare job specification records for each job in your depart- 
ment. 

6 — Prepare personal information records for each worker on each 
job in your department. 

7 — Make a list of fifteen production proverbs found in this topic. 

8 — What is the difference between the records .and reports of a 
supervisor and those of a foreman? 

9 — What are the three common errors in the preparation of records 

and reports made by foremen? 
10 — How may these errors be overcome? 



Topic No. 10 

LABOR TURNOVER 

Labor turnover will have a different meaning to those who are 
investigating labor conditions from different view points. There are 
two principal points of view: 

1. That of the social worker who is interested in the shifting 
of the labor market, with its consequent loss of time and wages to 
workers. This viewpoint would include separations due to workers 
being laid off owing to slack business or to reduction in the force 
resulting from the introduction of improved equipment. 

2. That of the trained business man whose business is 
handicapped and production curtailed by separations and replace- 
ments. The second, is the one with which this topic is concerned, 
and includes only those separations and replacements which cause 
added expense to the business. Labor turnover within the meaning 
of this topic refers to loss to production in man power through extra 
labor employed to maintain production standards. 

Labor turnover expense items are as follows: 

1 — Clerical 

2 — Training (waste of time) 

3 — Waste of material 

4 — Spoilage of material and equipment. 
Cost of training workers ranges from $40.00 to $750.00 per 
individual, according to the skill required on the particular job. 
The loss from separations and replacements on jobs requiring the 
maximum expenditure for training is small, due to the fact that there 
is comparatively little shifting among skilled workers. The total 
loss from labor turnover is brought up to a tremendous total by the 
great number of unskilled workers who are constantly shifting from 
job to job. Something must be done to decrease turnover loss or 
our place as a manufacturing nation will be seriously threatened. 
In some industries during the year 1919 the labor turnover 
reached as high an average as 1,000 to 3,000 percent. In other 

55 



56 LABOR TURNOVER 

words, the yearly turnover of labor for these industries indicated 
that some workers were replaced from 10 to 30 times in the year. 
This did not include the absenteeism which in some instances was 
recorded to be as high as 20 percent of the working force. This 
means that daily one out of every five workers failed to report. On 
a monthly labor hour basis, this would result in a loss, due to ab- 
senteeism, of 3,600 hours each month in a plant employing 100 
workers, 180 regular hours. 

Certain educational institutions have unwittingly encouraged 
labor turnover by advertising widely, advising workers to study 
something quite different from their present employment. Advance- 
ment and promotion should be encouraged, but the surest and least 
costly procedure, both to the worker and to industry, is the increasing 
of the efficiency of the worker in his present position. The less 
skilled machinist who studies to become a better machinist stands a 
much better chance of becoming a high salaried superintendent 
than the mediocre mechanic who studies to become a draftsman. 
"Being a small peg in a small hole is a lot better than being a small 
peg in a large hole where you are sure to rattle," contains much 
truth. 

When Horace Greeley offered his advice to young men, to "Go 
west and grow up with the country" he "started something" in the 
language of the hour, which has proved a real problem to the foreman. 
It would be interesting to know just what became of Mr. Greeley's 
young man. Did he go west and grow up there or did he grow up 
all over the country after the manner of the average worker? The 
really big problem the foreman has to solve is, how to reduce labor turnover. 

Employment is the natural place to begin the study of labor 
separations and replacements. If every foreman could be brought 
to realize the necessity for occupational training of workers and 
apprentices, a long step would have been taken toward a permanent 
reduction of labor turnover. We are just beginning to learn the 
lesson of permanent bridge and road building in this country, and 
we must some day give like attention to occupational training. 



LABOR TURNOVER 57 

Of the 30,000,000 children of school age in the United States, 
12,000,000 have left the school room at 14 years, 21,000,000 at 15 
and 25,500,000 at 16 years. Only 10% finish high school and only 
2% finish college. It is right that we should want every child to 
receive a college education. It is American justice that we should 
plan our educational system with the college in view, even though 
98% of those for whom we plan do not reach this destination. It is 
also a point in our scheme of human rights, to offer training suited 
to the life occupation of each youth. If possible every boy and girl 
should be induced to continue in school, that is the ideal, but we 
are not dealing with an ideal situation. We are dealing with stern 
realities. 

Eighty-five percent of the school children have left school 
before their sixteenth year. They are largely unprepared for the 
battle of life. It is our duty to prepare them. Trade preparatory 
schools should be conducted in connection with every public school. 
It should be as much the duty of our schools to train for a definite 
occupation as it is to train for an indefinite vocation. 

Trade preparatory classes for children about to leave school 
can only hope to prepare children for advantageous entrance upon 
a trade or industrial pursuit. Any one of experience knows that a 
trade can not be taught in a school room, that the only place a trade 
may be learned is on the job. 

Before instruction is planned, the industries of the community 
should be surveyed to learn the labor turnover for each occupation. 
With a knowledge of the labor turnover for all industries there need 
be no apprehension regarding the inauguration of training of enough 
workers to fill the ordinary requirements of the businesses of the 
community. 

Employment bureaus should be set up in each school whose 
business it should be to locate the job for the person before he or she 
begins instruction. Thus students might be definitely preparing to 
connect with one of the dominant businesses of the community. 
Of course it would be impossible to offer instruction in all the 288 
trades and pursuits found in American industrial life. If a person 



58 LABOR TURNOVER 

desires to study a trade which the labor turnover returns of local 
industries indicate the school should not offer, the person could follow 
the example of the majority of the two percent who choose to go 
to college, and go where the training is given. 

Training based upon labor turnover would save us the 
mistake made by many high schools at the present time: that of 
training two or three times as many persons in commercial work 
as can obtain local employment. In that case the schools are simply 
and effectively training the children away from home, for if they 
would use their training, in most cases they would have to leave 
their home town. The foreman can do much to aid in the stabilizing 
of our homes, industries, and government by fostering an interest 
in the reduction of labor turnover. 

In addition to the trade preparatory school as a means of fitting 
workers for the jobs, the character study for selection of workers as 
outlined in, Characteristics and Types of Workers, given during 
the topic devoted to Instruction of Workers and Apprentices, will 
aid in making a sensible selection. 

After every effort has been put forth to insure, as nearly as 
possible, the employment of workers to fit the jobs, the next thing 
is to keep that worker on the job. About three-fourths of the 
separations are due to resignations. Approximately one-fourth of 
them are due to discharge. This being the case, it is well to inquire 
into the causes of resignations. 

According to a table published in the Monthly Labor Review 
for October, 1918, and reprinted in The Turnover of Labor, Bulletin 
No. 46, Federal Board for Vocational Education, about one-third 
of those who resign do so because of dissatisfaction over wages. 
In this the foreman is vitally interested. No one knows better 
than the foreman that it is impossible to raise wages to the point 
of satisfaction. The natural tendency of all mankind is to want 
the "earth and a fence around it." Persons who can be permanently 
satisfied will not be worth much in business either as workers or as 
managers. The thing to do is to lead a worker to realize that the 
way to get the "earth and a fence around it" is to build his fence 



LABOR TURNOVER 59 

of successful performances on his present job. Separations resulting 
from dissatisfaction over wages, indicate that at least one-third of 
all the separations are due to "blind alley jobs." Modern industry 
really has no blind alleys for the worker who will study and apply 
himself. It becomes the particular job of the intelligent foreman 
to stimulate the worker to study and to apply himself, and thereby 
to fit himself for larger responsibilities. So long as we have men 
who are content to remain in blind alleys we will have a big labor 
turnover, and workers will continue to roam about from place to 
place seeking the "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow." The key 
to the blind alley is always at hand, and it becomes the opportunity 
of the foreman to present the key of occupational training to the 
worker and admit him into the broad highway of industrial develop- 
ment. 

A study of causes of discharges is also illuminating. One- 
third of the discharges are attributed to incompetency. Workers 
subject to discharge offer undoubted material for instruction in 
occupational practice. If the foreman is trained in the art of teach- 
ing, so that he can quickly and surely "put over new ideas," the 
average worker would not long continue incompetent. 

If it does become necessary to discharge a workman for in- 
competency, the foreman should endeavor to impress the worker 
with the impersonal necessity for causing the separation. Personal 
interest should be manifested at all times, at time of discharge as 
well as any other. "It always pays to be courteous" is a proven 
fact. The story of the condemned man who requested a polite hang- 
man is indicative of the general belief that, "The punishment 
prescribed in most cases is sufficient unto the crime." So it is with 
the worker who is being "fired." He doubtless feels the separation 
keenly enough without being subjected to additional humiliation. 

Misconduct is assigned as the cause of about 20% of the 
discharges. Company policy will usually guide the foreman in the 
matter of discharges for misconduct. In case a policy is already 
adopted the foreman should follow those rules laid down by the 
management. 



60 LABOR TURNOVER 

If the foreman is allowed to form his own judgment with reference 
to discharge for misconduct, it will be well for him to remember 
that if misconduct is allowed to go unpunished, the morale of the 
whole department will suffer. The foreman can not afford to over- 
look any act of misconduct, deliberate or otherwise. 

There should be a difference in the attitude of the foreman 
when dealing with persons who have been guilty of deliberate mis- 
conduct and those who have been guilty through ignorance. A good 
rule is, to withhold reproof the first time a slight offense is observed, 
while letting the offender realize he is observed. Care should be 
taken that the worker does not see the slightest suggestion of a smile 
on the face of the foreman when misconduct is observed. If after an 
experience, during which the worker realizes he is observed in mis- 
conduct, he continues to offend, it is best to take steps to correct 
the evil. 

In all cases calling for discharges the foreman should be 
certain of the support of his superiors. No one other influence 
will so break down the morale of workers and cause them to lose 
their respect for their foreman as for them to realize that there has 
been a reversal of a departmental action or policy. 

Absences are generally the forerunners of permanent separa- 
tions and as such should be included in any study of labor turnover. 
Among the causes of absenteeism in anind ustry, it is estimated that 
at least 3% is caused by sickness, accident and other so-called 
excusable conditions. This leaves 97% of absences to be assigned to 
so-called avoidable causes. 

The foreman can help to reduce absentee labor turnover by 
aiding in the promoting of interest and job pride. When the record 
of absenteeism is lowered the percentage of labor turnover is decreased 
in two ways: First, through reduction of departmental shifting, and, 
second, by localizing the worker's interest. The foreman should find 
out what is "on the worker's mind" and try to teach him how applica- 
tion to his job will help him to realize his ambition. If the workman 
gets a vision of ultimate success, however dimly it may be glimpsed, 



LABOR TURNOVER 61 

he will show fewer absences against his record and will cease to 
contribute to avoidable labor turnover. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Which of the two view points regarding labor turnover men- 
tioned in this topie is held by the management of your plant? 

2 — What do you estimate to have been the labor turnover in your 
department, exclusive of absenteeism, during the past year? 

3— If your department has an average monthly labor turnover, 
exclusive of absenteeism, of 50%, how many men are employed 
each month? 

4 — Assuming the cost of training your employees to be minimum, 
what is the loss to your plant from a 50% labor turnover? 

5 — Suggest a specific remedy for labor turnover. 

6 — How could the job specification record and the personal in- 
formation record be made of use in lowering labor turnover? 

7 — If you could have studied something you could have applied to 
your chosen work, would you have remained longer in school? 
Why? 

8 — Is there any connection between a labor turnover survey and a 
school employment bureau? If so, what? 

9 — What is the yearly percentage of absenteeism in your depart- 
ment? 
10 — Why does it become the particular job of the intelligent fore- 
man, to stimulate the worker to study and to apply himself, 
and thereby to fit himself for larger responsibilities? 
11 — Make a list of twenty production proverbs found in this topic. 



Topic No. 11 

MATERIALS 

A study of materials from the view point of the foreman may 
be divided as follows: 

1 — Ordering 

2 — Storing 

3 — Developing 

4 — Delivery. 

ORDERING 

When the foreman orders material, it is presumably for the 

purpose of having it transformed or changed in some manner by 

workers in his department. It is assumed that he has definite plans 

regarding the quality and quantity of articles to be made from the 

materials ordered. In well regulated plants systems of requisitions 

are used whereby the management has accurate knowledge, at all 
times, of the amounts of raw and finished materials on hand. The 

object of system is to prevent loss: Loss of energy, time, and 

materials. The foreman, whose mind is generally focused upon his 

own department, needs sometimes to visualize possible losses through 

improper ordering of materials. These possible losses may be listed 

under the following headings: 

1 — Over ordering 

2 — Under ordering 

3 — Ordering wrong materials 

4 — Indefinite ordering. 
Over ordering becomes a cause of serious losses if production 
is being carried forward according to a standard requirement. Raw 
materials in the store room and in the work shop represent, as a rule, 
about one-third of the entire investment in a business. Money is 
power and to invest it needlessly in materials or equipment is 
extravagance. It is estimated that millions of dollars are lost every 
year through the inflation of materials. The surest method of 
inflating the materials stock of a plant is through over ordering o» 

62 



MATERIALS 63 

the part of the foreman. If the foreman orders one hundred parts 
of raw material from the store room or ware house, the storekeeper 
has a right to assume that the parts are to be finished and will 
replenish his stock. In time the management will discover the loss 
from over ordering, but usually not until after considerable inflation 
has occurred. 

Under ordering is a cause of frequent losses in money and in 
time and morale. A large amount of labor turnover is directly 
traceable to under ordering of materials. It is estimated that at 
least one-third of all absences would be prevented if foremen would 
cease to under order. Sometimes a poorly trained foreman, in order 
to keep down his materials charge in the storeroom for a given 
month, will under order during the last few days of the current 
month, planning to renew the "on hand" stock in his department 
at the beginning of the next month. This practice always results 
in failure at certain times to keep the operator supplied with materials. 
Or the worker, accustomed to seeing a larger stock on hand at the 
bench or machine, lets down accordingly when the stock is low. 
Following such an experience, workers will be found discussing the 
matter during the lunch hour. Speculation will become common 
regarding a possible lay off due to lack of orders or materials. Ab- 
sences occur followed by immediate permanent separations of some 
of the most promising workers, who are really alarmed. The intel- 
ligent foreman will aim to keep his "on hand" stock up to a certain 
amount at all times. 

Ordering wrong materials is possible only when there is a 
misunderstanding of job orders or a careless attitude on the part of 
the foreman doing the ordering. That there is considerable loss 
through ordering of wrong materials, however, is a well known fact. 
A foreman is supposed to know what materials enter into his products. 
It is easy, however, for the untrained foreman to be mistaken in 
some cases. 

A machine shop foreman may receive an order which will call 
for the making of a valve stem. Perhaps a low grade rolled brass 
would answer the purpose and he selects a very high grade metal 



64 MATERIALS 

instead, or the foundry foreman uses number one grade pig iron 
with first grade scrap in production of sash weights, or the tinner 
uses a bearing mixture, high in tin and low in lead, when the reverse 
would do as well. The tool maker may use "high speed" steel where 
a low grade steel would answer the purpose. White pine may be 
used by the carpenter where yellow pine or poplar would give equal 
or better service. Wrong ordering is generally a direct result of 
lack of training on the part of the foreman issuing the order. It is 
the surest way to serve a notice upon the efficient worker that the 
foreman is incompetent. Every foreman should make a careful 
study of materials with a view to learning their relative values and 
uses. 

Indefinite ordering is probably the cause of more real "grief" 
than all the other kinds of wrong ordering combined. Indefinite 
ordering may result in a misunderstanding which will cause any or 
all the evils mentioned in the previous discussion. In making out 
orders, the efficient foreman will be careful to list his requirements 
in an orderly and a legible manner. There is an order of requisition 
which may be followed to advantage. It consists of a simple observa- 
tion of some fundamental principles used in conversation and corre- 
spondence. The order should be written with the following questions 

in mind: 

1 — What is wanted? 

2 — How many or how much? 

3 — Where wanted? 

4 — Why wanted (or what for?) 

5 — When wanted? 

6 — By whom wanted? 

If the foreman will follow this order in planning his requisitions 
and will write legibly, he will seldom send in an indefinite order. 
Some times forms are provided which do not follow the order of the 
above outline. In that case the form should be followed without 
question. Someone has said that " Most any system is a good system 
if it is followed." While there are exceptions to this rule, the principle 
involved is correct. If a system of ordering is in use in a plant, it 
is better to follow it than to attempt a conflicting variation. 



MATERIALS 65 

STORING 

Storing of materials is a subject which should engage the 
attention of foremen everywhere. Faulty storage methods may 
result in more actual damage to a business than is sometimes antic- 
ipated. Material loss through improper storage of so-called perishable 
material is so well known as to require little consideration in this 
topic, but loss from storage of materials generally considered im- 
perishable is worthy of close observation. 

Habits of thrift and orderliness may be encouraged on the 
part of the workers by painstaking foremen who exercise care regard- 
ing the storing of materials in the workroom. The very fact that the 
foreman, who is looked up to as a leader, is careful about orderly 
arrangement of inexpensive iron castings, will serve notice on every 
worker that order is not a matter of preventing loss but is a question 
of daily living. The manager who always inspected the heels of the 
shoes of his office boys when contemplating a promotion, was not 
far wrong. He was merely finding out whether the boy was really 
neat, or whether he was pretending neatness. The foreman may 
give just this same impression of neatness according to the attention 
he gives to seemingly unimportant details. Many a machinist loses 
his pride in the job and acquires habits of sloth and irregularity 
through such apparently inconsequential practices as mixing alum- 
inum cuttings with iron cuttings, etc. The loss in aluminum may 
not be great but the loss through decreased habits of thrift on the 
part of the worker is far more costly. 

DEVELOPING 

Development of materials from raw stock to finished product 
is attended by many operations which may or may not be carried 
forward in a progressive manner. Each process or operation must 
receive all the consideration it deserves if development of material 
is to be improved. 

Job favoritism should be avoided in development of materials. 

All persons are most successful in doing some one thing and 
the foreman is no exception to the rule. The industrial foreman 

5 



66 MATERIALS 

will have had considerable experience in the performance of all the 
operations or processes in his department. While this is true, it is 
equally true that he will have been more expert on some one job 
than on any other. He will, quite naturally, follow the line of least 
resistance if he is not on his guard against giving undue attention 
to that particular job. It is as possible for the foreman to show 
favoritism to jobs as to favor certain workers and neglect others. 
Production standards are impossible where foremen show "job 
favoritism." Likewise if production standards are maintained "job 
favoritism" is impossible. In fact, the adoption of a production 
standard is about the only means a foreman has of preventing a 
most natural and human tendency toward "job favoritism." 

Production standards are essential to efficient development 
of materials. All progressive foremen have a production standard 
not only for their departments as a whole, but for each department 
job as well. It may not be a part of the company policy to set a 
production standard, but the thoughtful foreman will have one of 
his own. It is not at all necessary that the worker shall know a 
standard exists. The important thing is, that the foreman knows 
what it is and sees that the standard is maintained on the job. It 
is interesting to note the attitude of the average worker toward the 
enforcement of production standards. Interrogation of one thousand 
workers quitting a plant, well known for leniency toward employees, 
the investigation covering a period of one year, revealed the fact 
that about thirty percent left because they were "tired of standing 
around." In spite of propaganda to the contrary and the lack of 
organization in some factories, one only need spend the lunch hour 
in the midst of a group of workers, listening to their stories of pro- 
duction records, to be convinced that the average worker really is 
capable of "job pride" in maintaining production standards. 

If but slightly encouraged, the workers will adopt their own 
production standards and advance them from time to time. Some 
foremen show "job favoritism" in the belief that the action of 
certain leaders will give tone to the whole group. Such action 
amounts to a confession on the part of the foreman of his own in- 



MATERIALS 67 

ability to inspire leadership arid job pride in each worker. The 
action usually results in a charge of favoritism against the foreman 
and not without some justification. 

Performance rating is an aid to the establishment of produc- 
tion standards. 

The efficient foreman will have his production standard for 
each job and will occasionally refer to his performance records to 
discover which job needs most attention. Production standards 
should be compared with performances and each worker given his 
rating in the record. Unless the company policy requires it, the 
foreman should never allow any worker to know the rating of him- 
self or of others. Only the crudest foreman will find it necessary 
to make public the performance records. When the ratings are 
entered in the daily, weekly or monthly record, the foreman should 
set the jobs down on a slip of paper in the order of their performance 
rating. Such other notes as may occur to him at this time and 
from reading the other records may be made on the card and the 
foreman will then be ready to give the attention to each job that 
it justly deserves. 

DELIVERY 

Delivery of material divides itself into two groups: 

1 — Delivery of raw materials to workers 

2^Delivery of finished materials to storeroom or assembly room. 

In delivery of raw materials to the worker, care should be 
observed to make the delivery in such a way as to inconvenience the 
worker as little as possible. It is most disconcerting to an engine 
lathe operator to have a large casting thrown against his machine 
during the time he is taking a finishing cut on a piston rod. There 
is no record that the ancient Hebrews, who were held captives in 
Egypt, objected to making bricks. They did object to making 
bricks without straw. They realized that the straw was denied 
them merely to slow up and make more difficult the brick making . 
Likewise, workers seldom complain about work when it is "getting 
somewhere." They do object strenuously to work which accom- 



68 MATERIALS 

plishes nothing. Raw material should not be thrown or dumped 
where the worker must walk in the course of his work. The general 
rule in the delivery of raw materials, which may apply to other 
activities as well, is, do not disturb the worker except in case of emergency 
or as a means of aiding production. 

In delivery of finished materials to the storeroom or to the 
assembly room, two points should be observed: 

1 — Promptness 
2 — Regularity. 

Prompt delivery is a source of pride to the foreman and to 
the workers. Being prompt in deliveries may be likened to being 
prompt in keeping engagements. It creates an impression of business 
management for those who are responsible for deliveries, if these 
are made on time. If the foreman would advance in the business, 
he must cultivate habits of promptness in delivery of finished 
materials from his department. 

Regularity of delivery is next in importance to promptness 
in delivery. Production standards should be set far enough above 
the requirements, to allow regular quantity deliveries rather than 
deliveries direct from machine or bench. There are several reasons 
for this, chief among them being the following: To allow time 
arrangement on the part of those who receive or check the deliveries, 
to insure steady and impartial deliveries from each job in the depart- 
ment and to develop habits of regularity among workers. If the 
plant is organized on a basis of having only a minimum amount 
of money invested in surplus materials, the foreman will find that 
his delivery of finished materials will be anticipated in the assembly 
room and in the stock room. If the same thing is true of all other 
departments, the assembly room checker or store keeper will be 
reasonably busy receiving and storing deliveries. If he learns to 
expect certain deliveries at certain times, he will naturally prepare 
to receive them at those times. This will result in quick release of 
the delivery man and consequent decrease in "ganging" around the 
store rooms and congestion of the gang way. 



MATERIALS 69 

An unpopular pugilistic champion, upon being offered sympathy 
because of unfriendly newspaper comment, remarked that he did 
not "care what they say about me, just so they say something." 
It is true of all persons. It is natural to want a little attention. If 
the worker who produces many small parts, employs the delivery 
man for every few parts, the worker who produces larger parts will 
feel the lack of attention, or the worker who makes small parts will 
feel that he is being "rushed." Regularity of delivery is the answer 
to the problem. Regularity of deliveries of finished materials will 
go far toward aiding in the establishment of regular habits on the 
part of the worker. Workers are heard to comment regarding well 
regulated shops, that "Things go just like clock work there." 
Regular deliveries of finished material go far to create that clock- 
like impression. There is something in the idea of "leaving a little 
work for a little while for the worker to look upon." It stimulates 
the worker just as the nest egg stimulates the hen. The worker 
sees the result of his efforts before him all the time, until delivery, 
and is eager to get "started again " as soon as possible after a delivery. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — In what respect is the view point of the foreman different from 

that of the worker regarding the study of materials? 
2 — Give an instance of possible over ordering in your department, 

under ordering, ordering wrong materials, indefinite ordering. 
3 — What do you understand by "inflation of materials?" 
4 — How may under ordering lower morale? 
5 — Give an example of how under ordering of materials might 

increase labor turnover. 
6 — Give an instance of how under ordering might be the cause of 

absences. 
7 — Why do absences sometimes result in permanent separations? 
8 — Give an instance of how habits of thrift may be encouraged by 

foremen who exercise care in the storing of materials. 
9 — Give an instance of how a foreman might follow the "line of 

least resistance," if he was not on his guard against giving 

undue attention to a particular job. 



70 MATERIALS 

10— Select a job in your department and indicate its production 

standard. 
11 — Give an instance of how a workman may be encouraged to adopt 

his own. production standards. 
12 — What is the difference to the foreman between job production 

standards and plant production standards? 
13 — Give each job in your department a number and opposite each 

number place its production rating on a basis of percent of 

standard performance. 
14 — Give an instance of how wrong delivery of raw materials may 

lower the morale of the workers. 
15 — List three common errors in the delivery of finished materials 

in your department. 
16 — How could you improve conditions in your department through 

regularity in delivery? 
17 — Prepare a list of twenty production proverbs found in this topic. 



Topic No. 12 

COOPERATION 

The foreman in any business enterprise finds himself hedged 
about by rules and regulations, common or statutory, resulting from 
the necessary coordination between individuals and jobs in a solvent 
business. The solvency and the service of a business depend alto- 
gether upon the quality of the cooperation between individuals and 
groups. The individuals who make up the personnel of an industrial 
establishment are found to function in three distinct groups: 

1 — Managers 

2— Foremen 

3— Workers. 
The managerial group includes persons whose principal 
business is to secure cooperation between the various departments 
of a business. Generally speaking, the responsibility of a manager 
is to supervise indirectly the operations or processes of production 
and of distribution. In that efficient production and distribution 
are dependent upon cooperation, the manager's responsibility in- 
cludes maintenance of cooperation between departments and in- 
directly between workers. 

The foreman has direct supervision of the processes or opera- 
tions in one department and has direct responsibility for cooperation 
between workers in his department. A general foreman may be given 
responsibility over several departments, but to the extent that his 
supervision is indirect, he functions as an assistant manager. Like- 
wise to the extent that his supervision is direct, he functions as a 
foreman. The principal features of his responsibility are not different 
from those of the manager and of the foreman. He is concerned with 
supervision of processes or operations in departments and is supposed 
to encourage cooperation between departments. 

Workers are those persons who are engaged in performing cer- 
tain operations or processes. A job in these topics is to be under- 

71 



72 COOPERATION 

stood to indicate the process or operation or group of processes or 
operations to which one worker may be assigned. The worker is 
directly responsible for the success of each process or operation to 
which he is assigned. To the extent that his job must coordinate 
with every Other job, the worker is supposed to cooperate with every 
other individual in the plant. 

Cooperation between groups and between individuals is 

of such prime importance to any business as to take precedence over 
all other questions for discussion. A certain manager of a baseball 
team who had the necessary financial backing, succeeded in bringing 
together nine players who were recognized as the stars in their 
particular divisions of the game. The team finished in the "cellar," 
because those nine stars played independent ball. They were 
defeated time after time by less experienced players who had learned 
the value of cooperation. Likewise an industrial organization may 
consist of the ablest mechanics and workers in the business, the 
equipment may be the best that money can buy, the sanitary and 
safety conditions may be all that could be wished for, and yet the 
business may fail for want of cooperation. 

There are two kinds of cooperation: Personal and departmental. 
Every individual in a business has an opportunity to share in each 
kind. 

Personal cooperation is that kind which manifests itself in 
personal interest between individuals. Certain foremen and workers 
manifest this quality to a high degree. They are delightful com- 
panions who, when meeting others, greet them affably, always 
politely solicitous of their personal and business welfare. It is the 
kind of cooperation that is encouraged among well bred people. 
Persons who practice these manifestations of personal interest are 
said to be refined. 

Personal interest must be genuine to be recognized as coopera- 
tion. The foreman or worker who outwardly seeks to give the im- 
pression of interest while failing in every instance to cooperate in 
furthering the business and personal welfare of his associates is 



COOPERATION 73 

deceiving no one but himself. He is soon known for what he is, a 
hypocrite. Many a business is ruined by a hypocritical personnel. 

Foremen should never be forgetful of those little manifestations 
of genuine personal interest, such as kindly greetings and words of 
sympathy and cheer but they should accompany such "lip service" 
by deeds of helpfulness and cooperation in time of need. 

Departmental cooperation is that manifestation of interest 
which finds expression in increased production. It is possible for 
persons who are unknown to each other to practice departmental 
cooperation. Such impersonal cooperation is greatly to be desired 
in a business and should be cultivated at all times. It is not, how- 
ever, to be understood that genuine personal cooperation is to be 
neglected. On the contrary, the foreman should be reminded that 
departmental cooperation is always evidence of willingness to practice 
personal cooperation. Hypocritical pretense of personal cooperation 
is possible without the desire to cooperate on the job, but pretended 
departmental cooperation is impossible. This is due to the fact that 
departmental cooperation is always manifested through deeds rather 
than through words. Foreman A may tell one of foreman B's workers 
or the management, that foreman B is a "fine fellow." Foreman A's 
remark will not prove anything except the possible personal interest 
of foreman A in foreman B. In some instances, it might be sufficient 
evidence to convince both foreman B and the management, of the 
necessity of adopting a policy of "watchful waiting "toward foreman 
A. If, however, foreman A pursues a policy of helpfulness toward 
foreman B, in the daily production activities, workers and manage- 
ment will become convinced of the sincerity of his interest, whether 
his interest is expressed by words or by deeds. 

The personnel of a business being made up of the three groups 
mentioned at the beginning of this topic, i. e. managers, foremen and 
workers, and all operations or processes attendant upon production 
and distribution being absolutely dependent upon the cooperation 
of the individuals, making up each group, it is well that the foreman 
should study the influences which may advance or retard cooperation 
between groups. 



74 COOPERATION 

Cooperation between the foreman and the management 

consists chiefly of accurate reflection of the management to the 
workers and an equally accurate reflection of the workers to the 
management. 

Some one has likened human beings to mirrors walking about 
reflecting the characters of those whom they meet. There is without 
doubt, much food for reflection in the comparison. It behooves 
each foreman to keep his mirror clean and free from cracks. 

A foreman whose nature is soured, whose soul is warped and 
cracked, can not but reflect a crooked image. Of course if the 
management is lacking in the true principles of business practice 
the foreman can not fail to carry a share of improper managerial 
attitude to the workers, but even evident mismanagement does not 
furnish an excuse for the foreman to become less true to his foreman- 
ship obligations. 

The Foreman Is the Connecting Link in Industrial Affairs 
The industrial organization may be compared to that of a 
foot ball team. The manager is the coach, who has earned his 
place by many hard gruelling "games" on the industrial gridiron. 
He plans the "formations" and the tactics, chooses the leaders and 
advises the captain with regard to regular "play" and emergency 
formations and practices. The foreman is the captain who leads 
his workers into the field, and, in the absence of the manager, 
endeavors to carry out the policies of the manager. It is his business 
to "call the plays" as the manager has arranged them, and to lend 
every effort to secure "team play." In conference with the "coach" 
the foreman should be careful to place every operation or process 
clearly before the manager, faithfully calling attention to the condi- 
tion of the materials and workers in his charge. If a worker has 
offered a suggestion or performed a special service, the foreman 
should report the matter faithfully. 

An essential part of a foreman's duty is to interpret company 
policies in the liberal light in which they are intended. Many 
managers are misunderstood by their workers because their foremen 
misrepresent them. 



COOPERATION 75 

A manager of liberal views and temperate habits, may be mis- 
judged by his workers as a result of the restricted view point and 
intemperate habits of his foremen. 

The safe procedure for the foreman who would improve his 
cooperation with the management is to analyze the management 
through a careful study of company policies. 

Two of the other ways in which the foreman may cooperate 
with the management are, 1st: By recommendation of new methods 
of 'production and the offering of suggestions for improving plant con- 
ditions. 2d: By assisting the community to understand the policies 
and problems of the company in so far as the community may be 
interested. This latter means of cooperation is very often neglected 
with the result that our businesses are misrepresented before com- 
munities, by outside persons who seize upon unexplained situations 
as a means of promoting their selfish ambitions by arousing antagon- 
ism against the company. Thus the business is sometimes literally 
dragged into politics, more misunderstanding being the general result. 

Fully one-half of the troubles of business institutions could be 
eliminated through the formation of an executive clearing house, com- 
posed of the various foremen and superintendents in a plant, who would 
gather from time to time to discuss questions. 

Cooperation between foremen is of just as much importance 
as cooperation between the foreman and the management. An 
ancient Greek fable details the experiences of a man who lost control 
of his hands and feet, and they, failing to agree, started to go in 
various directions at the same moment. The application of this fable 
to the situations in a shop where foremen fail to cooperate is apparent. 
One of the famous remarks of Benjamin Franklin was directed to 
those men who, like Franklin, had just finished signing the Declara- 
tion of Independence; "Well, gentlemen," said he, "if we do not 
hang together we shall most assuredly hang separately." Every fore- 
man may do well to be guided by Franklin's remark. No greater 
mistake can be made by the foreman than to imagine that he can 
deliberately fail to cooperate with his associates and "get away 
with it." It simply can not be done. 



76 COOPERATION 

Cooperation between foremen may manifest itself through the 
following channels: 

1— Personal cooperation. 

la. Manifestations of interest through friendly greetings, 
especially in the presence of workers. 

lb. Expressions of sympathy in times of illness and distress 

lc. Congratulations for successful departmental per- 
formance. 

Id. Offers of assistance and sympathy in trying depart- 
mental situations. 

le. Cordiality of reference during conversation with workers 
or management. 

2— Departmental cooperation. 

3a. Discussion of, and agreement upon, all interpretations 

of interdepartmental policies affecting parties to the 

discussion. 
2b. Equal distribution of tools and materials in time of 

shortage. 
2c. Equal distribution of labor in times of shortage. 
2d. Prompt information regarding conditions which may 

affect other departments. 
2e. Suggestions regarding the improvement of processes, 

operations or deliveries. 
2f. Careful inspection of all interdepartmental deliveries. 
2g. Careful observance of interdepartmental standards of 

production. 
The foreman who observes the twelve rules of cooperation listed 
above will do much to maintain order in the plant through the 
establishment of good feeling and confidence. 

Cooperation between foremen and workers is possible only 
when there is a feeling of mutual confidence. Workers must believe 
in the foreman if they are to render that whole hearted service which 
is the only service which can result in successful plant operation. 

Some one has said that we are "respected for what we know, 
we are loved for what we do, and sought after for what we possess." 



V 



COOPERATION 77 

The foreman must "know his business." He must not only know 
his business, but he must know his worker's business just a little 
better than the worker knows it himself, if he would maintain the 
respect of the other. Confidence in a foreman on the part of either 
the worker or the management is largely a matter of confidence in 
the ability of the foreman. 

A foreman must possess the technical knowledge of each job in 
his department and in addition must possess whatever auxiliary 
knowledge is necessary to the doing of each job. 

In the matter of gaining and holding the respect of the worker, 
auxiliary knowledge is probably the most effective instrument. 

Auxiliary knowledge, that knowledge which while not being 
necessary to manipulation, does render manipulation easier and 
cheaper, is made up of that science, mathematics, drawing and 
English which is related to manipulation. It is at once apparent 
that the great opportunity of the foreman to increase his efficiency, 
to exert additional influence over his workers, and to help develop 
the business, lies in the direction of auxiliary knowledge. 

All progress and all invention results from the application of 
such auxiliary knowledge. Industry advances so rapidly that the 
foreman who does not keep abreast is soon discarded. The foreman 
must do original thinking. 

If he is a first class workman, having the technical knowledge 
necessary to performance, and in addition studies to gain a command 
of the related sciences, mathematics, drawing and English, he will 
haye equipped himself to command the respect of both management 
and workers. In as much as the unapplied wisdom of a Solomon 
will not result in performance, the worth while foreman understands 
that he will advance himself with both the management and the 
workers only by applying the new ideas received in study, to the 
jobs in his department. In this way he will be cooperating with his 
workers and the management in a most practical manner. 

Another fruitful source of cooperation between workers is the 
foreman's exhibition of interest in the workers. Production is 
increased, good feeling established, order secured and several persons 



78 COOPERATION 

made happy, many times, by the mere act of a foreman inquiring in 
a cordial manner about the health of some worker's family. Judicious 
interest in the personal affairs of the worker is always appreciated 
if the foreman enjoys the confidence of the worker. In case of illness 
in a worker's family the foreman should show his interest in every 
possible way. It is this kind of interest which lifts the operations 
or processes incident to production out of the montonous quagmire 
of performance and gives a human coloring to business. 

One other point may be mentioned in connection with a dis- 
cussion of cooperation between the foreman and his workers. 

Fairness to workers and fairness between workers is 
absolutely necessary in securing the cooperation of workers. Many 
times a worker will be found whose supersensitive nature makes it 
extremely difficult to guard against his developing a feeling of un- 
fairness. 

Experience seems to indicate that inattention to detail is more 
frequently the cause for a feeling of unfairness than failure to give 
attention to more important matters. Stopping a few minutes each 
day to chat with one worker, while confining conversations with 
others to a discussion of operations or processes, always results in 
giving offense. Even small matters like unequal assignments, tool 
distribution, material deliveries, etc., are sometimes cause for grave 
concern. One instance is on record where a serious industrial disturb- 
ance was finally traced back to unequal assignment of overtime. 
Certain workers felt themselves unjustly discriminated against and 
what had begun in a small way soon developed, by addition of real 
and fancied wrongs, until the company was confronted with a serious 
situation. 

The foreman should learn the truth of the maxim that, "The 
obvious is seldom true." Very few indeed, of the industrial disturb- 
ances originate as announced. Absolute fairness on the part of fore- 
men will do much to bring about a liberal spirit of cooperation 
between workers and between workers and foremen. 



COOPERATION 79 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Is a solvent business always serviceable? 

2 — Is an insolvent business sometimes serviceable? 

3 — List all the persons in your plant who act in a managerial 

capacity. 
4 — List the jobs in your department. 
5 — What do you understand by coordination of jobs? Give an 

instance. 
6 — Do increased wages always insure greater production? 
7 — Is production always in proportion to the skill of the workers? 
8 — Give an instance of personal cooperation in your department. 
9 — Give an instance of personal cooperation between foremen in 
your plant. 
10 — Give an instance of departmental cooperation in your plant. 
11 — What do you understand by the statement that "Persona! 
interest must be genuine to be recognized as cooperation? Give 
an instance. 
12 — Give an instance of how a business may be ruined by a hypo- 
critical personnel. 
13 — What is the test of departmental cooperation? 
14 — List the good points of your management which you could 

reflect to your workmen with probable good results. 
15 — How would you go about it to analyze the management through 

a careful study of company policies? Give an instance. 
16— How would you go about it to assist the community to under- 
stand the policies and problems of your company? 
17 — Which of the twelve rules of cooperation would be most im- 
portant to your department? 
18 — Why is a feeling of mutual confidence necessary in order that 

there may be cooperation between foremen and workers? 
19 — What job in your department do you know least about? Why? 
20 — What job in your department are you most familiar with? 

Why? 
21 — Give instances of how auxiliary knowledge may be used to gain 
and hold the respect of your workers. 



SO COOPERATION 

22 — How might your personal interest in one of your workers result 

in improved cooperation? Give an instance. 
23 — What do you know about the families of your workers? 
24 — How closely should a foreman associate with his workers? 
25 — What is your understanding of fairness? Give an instance of 

fairness on the part of a foreman to one of his workers, to the 

workers of his department as a group. 
26 — Make a list of twenty production proverbs found in this topic. 

Which one applies most aptly to your department? 



Topic No. 13 

OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 

The foreman encounters certain situations resulting from out- 
side influences being brought to bear upon management or workers. 
Sometimes these situations are helpful and should be encouraged. 
Others are harmful and should not receive the approval of persons 
interested in the development of a business enterprise. These in- 
fill ences are as complex as modern life itself and there is a disposition 
to pass over many of them as being impossible to understand or 
control. If, however, the foreman wishes to function efficiently, 
he should make a careful study of the effect of outside influences. 
These outside influences which daily affect business interests 
may be divided into three classes: 

1 — Social 

2 — Educational 

3 — Economic. 

Strictly speaking, there is no fine distinction between social, 
educational and economic influences. Many will be found which 
may be readily classified in each group, depending upon the angle 
from which they are viewed. 

An example of a community enterprise, which may be con- 
sidered either as a social, educational or an economic activity, is 
found in the moving picture business. For purposes of discussion 
the following distinctions are set up: 

Social influences, as considered in this topic, may be under- 
stood to arise from those activities outside of organized instruction 
to which employed persons devote their surplus time. 

For example, the cleaning of streets and alleys in a community 
is a social interest for those individuals not regularly paid for such 

work. 

Educational influences, as discussed in this topic, embrace 
all organized instruction which is intended to increase the civic or 
vocational intelligence of the student group. 

81 

6 



82 OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 

Economic influences, as discussed in this topic, are the wealth 
using activities employing the surplus time. 

Economics as usually considered, includes both the wealth 
getting and the wealth using activities of mankind. Wealth getting 
activities constitute the regular employment. 

SOCIAL INFLUENCES 

Each social activity affects every other activity of any kind 
hence business activities are affected by all surplus social activities. 
The surplus social influences must be reckoned with by the foreman 
who would become a leader. Some surplus social influences are 
as follows: 

Recreational activities 
Public meetings 
Amusement activities 
Sanitation projects 
Welfare activities. 
Religious development might be included among surplus social 
activities but the experience of many organizations indicates quite 
clearly the mistake of including religion or politics in discussions 
among foremen. 

Recreational activities include public games, swimming pools, 
gymnasiums, parks, play grounds, etc. 

Reflection upon the meaning of the term ''re-creation" will serve 
to guide persons in promotion of recreational activities. If they are 
intended to re-create, i. e. make people over again, they can be given 
serious consideration as recreational acitivities. 

Public games should be organized primarily for three purposes: 
To foster good natured rivalry, to develop leadership and to provide 
physical exercise. Each public game introduced into a community 
should be tried by this rule of three advantages, and, if it fails to 
offer all three, it should be advanced with a degree of caution. 

Swimming pools and gymnasiums offer additional well balanced 
recreational opportunities. Like public games, their success depends 



OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 83 

upon proper supervision. Recreational supervision must manifest 
itself, as in the case of shop foremanship, by such quiet effectiveness 
that the supervisor will have been forgotten in the supervision. 

Parks are factors in the community life which deserve the 
cooperative scrutiny of foremen everywhere. 

Some one has said, "Show me the books a man reads and I will 
tell you what he thinks." This may or may not be true of books 
but it certainly is true to a great extent with regard to the places 
frequented by people. A well known maxim is to the effect that 
"A man is known by the company he keeps." 

A community without a park is like a home without a living 
room, just kitchen, work room, and bedroom. "All work and no play 
makes Jack a dull boy." Every one is convinced of the truth of this 
adage. People are also coming to understand that "All work and 
no play" will result in a dull community. Dull communities with 
wide awake business insitutions are impossible. 

Public meetings, as discussed in this topic, include meetings 
for discussion of civic questions, for the adoption of civic plans and 
social gatherings where community singing, exercises, etc., are 
enjoyed. 

It is not the purpose of this topic to suggest that foremen should 
enter into public meetings with any preconceived idea of gaining control 
in the interest of the business in which they are engaged. On the con- 
trary, it is the purpose of this topic to point out that the interest of the 
community is paramount. Men, women and children must come 
first. Good citizens msan good businesses. Honest business desires 
nothing more than the earnest cooperation of good men and women. 
With that assured, our businesses will move forward without one 
moment of misgiving. 

Foremen who earnestly endeavor to better the condition of 
their neighbors, through promoting community welfare by sharing in 
the responsibilities of public meetings, earn and maintain the con- 
fidence and respect of their managements and of their workers. 

Amusement activities require a greater amount of close 
supervision than any other kind of social activity. Their usefulness 



84 OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 

depends upon the degree to which they represent the interests of 
the general public. They should be organized to provide entertain- 
ment for a majority of the residents. 

Those amusements which meet with greatest objection, and 
whose service is generally open to question, are usually organized to 
provide entertainment for a relatively small group. Exceptions may 
be found as in the case of racial associations, etc. The same rule will 
apply within a racial group, i. e. the amusement should be organized 
to provide entertainment for a majority of the group it is supposed 
to serve. 

In deciding upon the character of an amusement, a community 
may employ the following questions for guidance: 

Will it provide relaxation? 

Will it develop a sense of humor? 

Will it improve the cordiality of the relations of the general 
public? 

Will it serve a majority of the citizens? 

Amusements meeting the requirements set forth in these four 
questions may be looked upon by the foreman as positive aids to 
the promotion of the general welfare of the community and they 
may be depended upon to inspire cooperation among workers. Busi- 
ness managements everywhere recognize the helpful influence of 
clean amusements. 

Sanitation projects are social activities demanding the atten- 
tion of every citizen. They embrace: 

1 — Sewerage provisions 
2 — Street cleaning 
3 — Weed cutting 
4 — Garbage removal 
5 — Water distribution. 

The need for interest in sanitation projects is so apparent that 
it is assumed to be self-evident to any person of sufficient intelligence 
to assume foremanship responsibilities. 

Neatness and cleanliness in the community as well as in the 
homes will be reflected in the office, factory or shop. The foreman 



OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 85 

can do much to establish a high standard of workmanship by lending 
his best efforts toward the establishment of high standards of citizen- 
ship. Sanitary communities and homes mean less sickness, lowered 
labor turnover and larger production. Foremen should be familiar 
with sanitary measures and should assist in every way possible the 
furtherance of sanitary projects. 

There is a general tendency to associate physical uncleanness 
with evil practices. It is likewise true that we trust clean people 
rather than unclean persons. The general attitude of the foreman 
on questions of public sanitation will be accepted by many as an 
indication of his general character. 

Welfare activities include hospitals, dispensaries, social settle- 
ments, and service associations. 

Hospitals and dispensaries are always a source of pride to 
citizens and serve to attract physicians and surgeons of ability to a 
community. The community having adequate hospital facilities has 
less labor turnover and less labor loss through accidents. Foremen 
should interest themselves in hospital arrangements and encourage 
an interest on the part of their workers. 

Social settlements aim to provide recreation, amusement and 
education for a group of self-supporting persons always found in 
large centers, who do not share in the advantages of an abundant 
home life. They endeavor to approximate the home opportunities 
and to promote civic development. 

The foreman should be encouraged to investigate the extent to 
which welfare activities are needed and invest a portion of his surplus 
time, energy and means in these activities. 

Service associations are sometimes wrongly referred to as 
"provident associations," "welfare societies," etc. It is a deplorable 
fact that every city has, within it, a number of persons who, at 
times, are urgently in need of comfort and assistance. It is not an 
ideal condition and successful persons are apt at times to underrate 
the importance to the community of well organized service asso- 
ciations. 

Many cases cared for by such societies are emergency in char- 



86 OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 

acter and many good men and women receive timely assistance which 
enables them to take their places again as units of productive society. 
Foremen may do much to aid community life as well as business 
enterprises by helping such associations to be recognized as service 
rather than as charitable institutions. 

EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCES 

Educational influences brought to bear upon business from the 
outside, may or may not be of assistance to the foreman in promoting 
the efficiency of his department. Vocational education has come to 
be considered of paramount importance by many persons of ex- 
perience in industrial management. Some facts which aid these 
persons in reaching this decision are as follows: 

Exports by Countries. 1913 

Germany Finished materials 85% Raw materials 15% 

Great Britain. . . . " " 66|% " " 33|% 

United States.... " " 33|% "' " 66f% 

At that time the ratio of development of vocational education 
between Germany, England and the United States followed closely 
the ratios of the percentages of exportations of finished materials. 
In 1916 the United States ranked with Russia and China with regard 
to vocational education. 

That there are other reasons for concern than are revealed by 
these figures taken from the records of exportation, is evident from 
the fact that there are approximately 7,000,000 persons residing 
within the borders of the continental United States who are unable 
to read or write in any language. 

At present, immigrants are arriving by the way of Ellis Island 
alone, at the rate of eight to ten thousand a week. They are required 
to be able to read and write at least twenty words in some language. 

From thirty to fifty percent of the males more than twenty-one 
years of age, living in the large American cities, are foreign born. 
While the mere fact of foreign birth does not suggest illiteracy, in 



OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 87 

many cases it does mean a low order of productivity due to inability 
of foreign born workers to cooperate through their failure to speak 
and to understand a common language. 

Foremen should lend their aid to Americanization instruction. 
Americanization subjects usually embrace: English language, 
spelling, penmanship, reading and civil government. If foremen will 
manifest a definite interest in Americanization classes, the better 
class of foreigners will understand the value of citizenship. 

Vocational education and Americanization are two educational 
projects which promise abundant returns to the foreman for his 
investment of interest and time. 

Educational mistakes are possible and foremen should learn to 
look carefully before extending their assistance to educational 
schemes. 

Each proposed educational program should submit to the 
following analysis: 

Will the instruction promote the civic or vocational intelligence 
of the worker? 

Will the instruction inspire a larger service to mankind? 

Is the instruction related to the worker's present or future job 
in the plant, and will it be likely to make him more contented 
in his present position? 

These three rules should apply to every proposed plan of educa- 
tion which is encouraged by factories and shops. 

It is estimated that there is a loss of from thirty to sixty percent 
of the energy devoted to general education in the United States. 
This loss is almost entirely due to unapplied instruction. 

Commercially minded agents persuade workers to enroll in 
whatever course seems most attractive without giving a thought to 
the opportunity the worker may have of using the knowledge he 
may obtain through the study. 

Business institutions sometimes encourage workers to give 
respectful attention to agents who thoughtlessly contribute to the 
labor turnover of the plant by urging workers to begin studies which 
must eventually cause them to leave their employments and seek 



88 OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 

work where they can use their newly acquired knowledge. It is 
impossible to estimate what part of labor turnover is due to the 
failure of employers to take an interest in the educational develop- 
ment of workers. 

In addition to increased labor turnover through trade changing 
education, production is lowered to a marked degree many times 
through the study of unrelated subjects. The worker, whose mind 
is continually being turned aside from his daily work, will be less 
efficient than the worker who is being inspired in production through 
studies related to his daily job. 

It is not the purpose of this topic to suggest what education 
should be offered to workers. A worker should be free at all times 
to enter upon any serious study which offers advancement or pro- 
motion either on his present job or in an entirely different business. 
Sometimes a change is beneficial to all concerned. In such cases a 
worker should be encouraged to fit himself for future service. 

Individual cases will require individual attention. While the 
foreman may not interfere with the educational plans of workers, in 
so far as the plans do not interfere with production, he has a right 
to assume that, in most instances, the future of employees is "with 
the business." Records of individual cases prove, that in most cases 
the worker who continually changes his trade or pursuit, seldom 
succeeds in advancing himself. 

In the interest of the workers themselves the foreman' 'will do 
well to apply the three rules of educational efficiency to proposed 
schemes of education. 

ECONOMIC INFLUENCES 

Economic interests are of concern to foremen in so far as they 
affect the mental or physical condition of workers. People generally 
may be grouped in three divisions for purposes of economic study. 

1 — Prosperous 
2 — Self-supporting 
3 — Dependent. 
Figures relative to the numbers and ages of the persons in each 



OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 89 

group are supplied by the American Bankers' Association. "Of each 
one hundred, self-supporting men, twenty-five years of age, one is 
rich at sixty-five, three are well to do, six are still working for a 
living, thirty-six are dead and fifty-four are in charitable institutions 
or totally dependent on relatives or friends." 

A study of the economic status by ages of a hundred average 
men twenty-five years old is of interest. "At thirty-five years, 
thirty-five have saved nothing; forty have moderate means; ten are 
in good circumstances; ten are wealthy; five are dead. At forty- 
five years, thirty are dependent on children, relatives, or charity 
for support; forty-six are self-supporting but without means; three 
are in good circumstances; one is wealthy; thirty-six are dead." 

Figures were supplied by the same source regarding the condi- 
tions of the homes where the husbands and fathers have died. "Of 
an average hundred widows, only eighteen are properly provided 
for or are left in comfortable circumstances. Forty-seven of the 
remaining eighty-two have to go to work at some gainful occupation 
in order to keep the home intact and educate the children. Thirty- 
five, because mentally or physically defective, are thrown upon the 
state, charity or relatives for support." 

It is a duty of the foreman to aid in encouraging thrift among 
his workers. Thrift is the most practical means of meeting the 
economic problems presenting themselves to the average worker. 
Other means than thrift for solving economic problems of workers 
may be talked about, but thrift, which harms no one, may be practiced 
at once. 

The foreman should be careful not to preach thrift. Preaching 
is an art which is not included in the occupation of foremanizing. 
Thrift, like religion, morality, and patriotism should be lived to be 
appreciated. Other outside economic influences might be mentioned 
but inasmuch as the majority are intimately related to the question 
of thrift, this discussion is limited to the use of the means of sub- 
sistance, commonly known as wealth. 



90 OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — List the outside influences which you have reason to believe 

affect your department either directly or indirectly. 
2 — Which of the above influences do you consider harmful? Why? 

Which do you consider helpful? Why? 
3 — Prepare a separate list of social, educational and economic 

influences. Which of each do you consider to be harmful? 

helpful? 
4 — Give an instance of how a social influence may be the cause of 

decreased production; an educational influence; an economic 

influence. 
5 — List the surplus social, educational and economic activities in 

which you engage. Check those which are helpful to the com- 
munity and to the business in which you are engaged. 
6 — List the workers in your department and record with their names 

the various surplus social activities in which each worker is 

engaged. 
7 — Give an instance of how public games might interfere with 

production in your department; of how public games might 

aid production; swimming pools, gymnasiums, parks, public 

meetings, amusement activities, sanitation projects, welfare 

activities. 
8 — Do you believe it is possible to secure personal or departmental 

cooperation from workers without knowing something about 

their surplus activities? 
9 — List the amusements in your community and apply the four 

rules for the selection of amusements to each. Grade them in 

percentages according to their character. 
10 — Will the outside influence which helps the worker and his family 

always prove beneficial to production? Give examples. 
11 — Would increased interest in sanitation projects aid your business? 

If so, give an instance from your own department. 
12 — List the workers in your department with their residences. 
13 — Prepare lists of those workers whose residences have adequate 



OUTSIDE INFLUENCES 91 

sewerage provisions, street cleaning, weed cutting, garbage 

removal, water distribution, respectively. 
14 How would you go about it to improve the sanitary conditions 

of the homes of the workers in your department if the conditions 

threatened production? 
15— List the welfare activities in your community. 
16_Give an instance of how adequate hospital service might lower 

labor turnover. 
17 — i s there a social settlement in your community? How could a 

social settlement aid in bringing about cooperation in your 

department? 
lg_Give an instance of how a service association may be a harmful 

influence to your department, a helpful one. 
19 Give an instance of an educational influence which would prove 

beneficial to your department, a harmful one. 
20— Suggest three ways by which the production of finished materials 

may be increased. 
21— How does failure to speak English interfere with production? 

Give instances, if possible, from your department. 
22— List the subjects which you have studied and state how each 

subject aids you in your present employment. 
23— List the subjects being studied at the present time by workers 

in your department and state how each subject may benefit the 

worker in his present employment. 
24_Give an instance of how trade changing education might increase 

the labor turnover in your department. 
25— List the workers of your department and opposite each worker's 
name, indicate the subjects which, in your opinion, he should 
be encouraged to study in order to improve his opportunity to 
advance in his present employment. 
26 — Why should foremen avoid preaching thrift? 
27— How would you go about it to encourage thrift among your 

workers? 
28— List twenty production proverbs found in this topic. Which 
one do you consider most applicable to your department? 



Topic No. 14 
OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 

Operations and processes are the advancing details of 

production 

OPERATIONS 

An operation, within the meaning of this topic, may be said 
to be one single completed action or movement which does not 
result in a marketable product. In this sense a single upward stroke 
of a pen would constitute one operation. This definition is offered 
in view of the fact that many separate movements are of such im- 
portance as to demand specific attention. 

There are two kinds of operations : 

1 — Independent 
2 — Common. 

An independent operation may de defiined as one which has 
a single definite aim and makes up a complete transaction which 
may be performed independently of all other operations. 

The test of an independent industrial operation should be: 
Would it be considered an important separate job under a highly 
specialized method of production? 

An example of an independent operation will be found in the 
pulling of the trigger while firing a rifle. Many separate move- 
ments or operations enter into the discharge of a firearm. All of them 
combine to prepare the way for the one final trigger-pulling opera- 
tion. The technique of all other rifle-firing operations is affected by 
the manner in which the trigger-pulling is done. It is at once appar- 
ent that trigger-pulling should be treated separately by ahy one who 
proposes to make a study of the operations included in discharging 
a rifle. 

A production example of an independent operation would be 
pouring molten metal into a mold. This important operation can 
not be subdivided. Many different workers may unite in setting 

92 



OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 93 

the ladle and making ready to "pour" but the actual opening of 
the "gate" on the ladle consists of just one operation. 

A common operation may be said to embrace those move- 
ments which are always performed in rapid succession and which 
have one principal common aim, which may be accomplished without 
regard to other aims. A common operation may be defined again 
as a series of related movements which, when performed separately, 
do not complete a transaction. 

The test of a common industrial operation should be: Would 
the operations, no one of which is more important than the other, 
be combined as one job under a highly specialized method of pro- 
duction? 

An example of a common operation would be loading a rifle. 
Loading is one transaction, aiming another and firing the final 
accomplishment in the use of firearms. Many separate movements 
enter into loading, no one of which, if performed separately, will 
complete a transaction. 

A production example of a common operation would be "tighten- 
ing" a nut on a bolt. This consists of a series of unimportant opera- 
tions, all of which are necessary to the accomplishment of a definite 
aim. No matter how highly specialized the system, but one person 
would be used to perform this series of operations. 

PROCESSES 

A process, as considered in this topic, may be understood to 
mean any advancing series of industrially related operations, resulting 
in a marketable product. 

An instance of a production process would be that of trans- 
forming wheat into flour. A great many independent and common 
operations enter into the manufacture of flour. They are all related 
to flour production and would therefore constitute the process of 
flour manufacture. 

If a bakery were operated in connection with a flour mill there 
would be but a slight relation between the operations encountered 
in flour manufacture and in bread baking. While the materials are 



94 OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 

very similar, the operations are quite unlike. One would be the 
process of baking, the other that of flour milling. Industrially 
speaking, each process should end in the production of a marketable 
product. 

The immediate aim of ah operation will determine the process 
in which it is located. 

A foreman functions in two ways: 

1 — As a supervisor of operations and processes 

2 — As a promotor of production enterprises involving operations 

and processes. 
Supervision of processes and operations is the first and 
constant duty of a foreman. It is the duty of the supervisor to see 
that each advancing operation is given just the attention it deserves. 

Supervisory knowledge is that knowledge which is represented 
by the first two factors of the modified Richard's formula; i. e. 
M + TK. (M = manipulation or doing. TK = technical knowl- 
edge or that knowledge which is necessary to manipulation.) The 
weights to be given each factor may be determined by the require- 
ments of the case. Successful foremanizing demands that the super- 
visor have at least as much technical knowledge as is required of 
those he is to supervise. 

One man having charge of several machines might be engaged 
exclusively in the supervision of operations and processes. In that 
case he would merely be responsible for the technique of the manipula- 
tions making up the various operations of the processes in which he 
is interested. 

There are many questions in which the foreman, as a supervisor, 
is not interested. Those questions are all related to the human 
factor in industry. Labor turnover, promotion of interest, occupa- 
tional training, first aid, maintenance of order, giving of orders, 
directions and suggestions, records and reports, outside influences, 
cooperation and safety first, all these may interest the wide awake 
foreman, but are not a part of his supervising business. 

The foreman as a supervisor is vitally interested in production, 
spoilage and delivery. 



OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 95 

Production standards are possible only where operations and 
processes are efficiently supervised. Spoilage is, to a great extent, 
due to inattention to the operations entering into production pro- 
cesses. Delivery is possible to the extent that supervision is effective. 

The production foreman as a supervisor is interested in mech- 
anical operations and processes. He may be engaged in an enterprise 
wherein machinery is not used. All the operations and processes may 
be performed by hand labor and yet his essential interest is in the 
mechanics of the operations entering into the processes for which 
he is responsible. 

In short, the supervisor is concerned with the workers as 
machines. Each hand is a piece of machinery which more or less 
skillfully performs a number of operations. 

As a supervisor the foreman is interested primarily in the relative 
skill with which hands or machines perform. If a hand or machine 
is not up to the standard of skill, the supervisor must do one of 
three things: Replace, repair, or adjust the defective agent. The 
operation is the chief point of interest. The supervisor is interested 
in the manner in which the machine or worker carries out the opera- 
tions after the adjustments or repairs are completed. 

As a supervisor the foreman must analyze and classify each 
advancing operation in each process if he would possess a ready 
knowledge of the degrees of accuracy and of speed which should 
be required on each one. 

If every business could rely upon an army of skilled hands 
with which to replace incompetent workers, or if automatic machinery 
were developed to the point of certainty of performance, the foreman 
could be content to function merely as a supervisor. 

Promotion of operations and processes is an important 
duty of the foreman in so far as production must be carried forward 
by means of untrained or partly trained workers or of undeveloped 
equipment. 

Industrial promotion by foremen may be divided as follows: 
Improvement of equipment 
Improvement of workers. 



96 OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 

Improvement of equipment will generally be found to result 
from an application of auxiliary knowledge to the operation or 
process at hand. 

An example of such application would be the speeding up of a 
drill press, to be used in drilling fin. holes in machinery steel. In 
the event that if a new and better grade of tool steel is used in making 
the twist drill, the peripheral speed may be greatly increased. 

Example 

Recommended speed of the new drill . . . 800 revolutions per minute 

Speed of the drill press 600 

Necessary increase of speed 200 

PLAN FOR IMPROVING EQUIPMENT 

As a means to the improvement of equipment the foreman may 
proceed as follows: 

First— Carefully list all the operations performed in the use of 

the particular equipment to be improved. 
Second— List all the technical knowledge required by the 

operator while manipulating. 
Third — List all the empirical knowledge (that knowledge or 
information which will not admit of discussion, as names, 
numbers and locations), required by the operator. 
Fourth — List all the auxiliary knowledge (that knowledge the 
use of which would render the performance of the operation 
easier or cheaper.) 
Having arrived at the auxiliary knowledge commonly known, 
by eliminating the technical knowledge and the empirical informa- 
tion, the foreman is ready to proceed to apply additional mathematics 
or science to the operation or process analyzed, thereby improving 
the equipment. 

An example of improvement of equipment is found in the 
fountain pen. The modern fountain pen is a natural development of 
the quill pen of our forefathers. The quill was followed by the steel 
point, which was at first an exact duplicate in steel of the quill point. 



OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 97 

The number of operations in the process of writing was reduced 
by the number of times it had formerly been found necessary to 
trim the point. The other operations remained the same for the 
steel point as for the quill. There are many operations which enter 
into the process of writing with either kind of pen, among which 
the inking of the pen point evidently offered greatest opportunity 
for improvement. 

An example of the use of the plan for improvement of 
equipment will be taken from one operation, that of inking the 
pen point. It would be as follows: 

Operation — Inking the pen point. 

Technical Knowledge— Where to thrust the pen point. When 

to thrust the pen point. How to dip the pen point. 

Empirical Information — The name of the instrument (pen). 

The name of the fluid (ink). The name of the writing sheet 

(paper). The location of the ink (forward to the right). 

Auxiliary Knowledge — Too much ink will drip and blot. 

Too little ink necessitates frequent dipping. Dipping the 

point to a certain depth will prevent blotting and will insure 

a longer flow of ink. A hole or depression above the point 

will hold ink and reduce the number of dipping operations. 

The natural conclusion would have been that the number of 

operations in the process of writing could be reduced by devising 

some method whereby a greater amount of ink could be safely 

carried to the point from a larger reservoir above the point. Having 

arrived at the commonly known auxiliary knowledge through the 

elimination of the technical knowledge and the empirical information, 

the inventor of the fountain pen quite naturally proceeded to apply 

additional mathematics and science to the problem of producing a 

self-feeding pen. 

The only reason for suggesting the analysis of an operation for 
technical knowledge and empirical information is to offer the fore- 
man, who may be untrained in making analyses, a graduated plan 
for arriving at the auxiliary knowledge. When he becomes expert 
in analysis he will be able to recognize the auxiliary knowledge used 
7 



98 OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 

on the job at once and will not need to set down the technical knowl- 
edge and the empirical information as a means toward the recognition 
of the auxiliary knowledge. 

A division of processes into operations and a study of each 
operation to discover the auxiliary knowledge in it, will always be 
necessary as a part of a plan for the improvement of equipment. 
In analysis for improvement of equipment the foreman should 
proceed after the manner of a physician who seeks to improve the 
health of a patient by first making a study of the patient's symptoms 
or daily habits. Having listed these, he will then decide which one 
suggests the greatest need for treatment with a view to improvement 
of the patient's health. In the improvement of equipment the fore- 
man becomes an industrial physician who is being paid to improve 
continually upon the condition and performance of the equipment 
of his department. 

Any change which may be effected by means of applying 
auxiliary knowledge must be followed by presenting additional 
technical knowledge and empirical information to the worker. 

Improvement of workers with regard to their mental attitude 
has been treated in other topics. In this topic the worker's develop- 
ment from the viewpoint of improved technique will be discussed. 

Improved technique is a result of continued systematic manipula- 
tion. Once the principles involved have been mastered and a satis- 
factory series of manipulations planned, attention should be turned 
in the direction of the development of habits which will result in 
improved technique. 

In promotion of operations and processes the foreman will do 
well to avoid the mysterious. So long as one or more of the prin- 
ciples or materials involved are not properly understood by the 
foreman, he will be unable to apply the necessary auxiliary knowledge 
to the problem of improvement. Any lack of technical knowledge 
will, with equal certainty, prevent improvement in manipulation. 

The foreman, as a promoter, is concerned with the worker 
as a human being. He realizes all the possibilities of development 



OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 99 

and retrogression due to good or bad habits of performance in pro- 
duction. As a promoter, he is alive to every opportunity for improve- 
ment of the worker. 

The foreman as a promoter, is interested in production standards 
not only as a means of insuring systematic performance but as a 
means of establishing habits of punctuality and associated thinking 
on the part of the worker. 

It is apparent to any reasonable person that the growth of any 
business must depend upon the extent to which the foreman functions 
as a promoter in addition to his job as a supervisor of operations 
and processes. This field for improvement is wholly outside that 
of supervision. Some foremen are yet to be found who still profess, 
or seem to profess, to function in a supervisory capacity only. 

The lack of interest in the development of their workers is 
the best evidence some foremen offer as proof of the fact that they 
have not risen above the supervisory stage of foremanizing. 

The modern foreman can not limit his interest to machinery, 
he must know men. It is not enough that the foreman should 
know operations and processes, he must know how to inspire men 
in order to improve both the job and himself. 

Men do not wait until the hour of death to begin to die. Men 
begin to die the moment that they cease to grow. 

The foreman who is content to do as well today as he did yester- 
day is "flirting with the production undertaker." The foreman can 
not stand still. He must grow or go. Production must go forward, 
it cannot go backward. Business cannot stand still. 

Consideration of the question of operations and processes from 
the two angles of supervision and of promotion is of especial interest 
when attention is given to the relative importance of common and 
independent operations. Common operations require more habit 
and less original thinking than independent operations. A recognition 
of this fact opens up a field of investigation for the thoughtful fore- 
man which leads directly to improvement of methods and equipment. 

Occupational judgment may be said to be developed by the 



100 OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 

worker through constant duplication of action and thought in com- 
mon operations. 

Any operator will know how to deal with a situation over which 
he has held a mastery for several years. A machinist may have 
learned that cast iron is brittle, or that oil is not required in drilling 
cast iron. A carpenter may learn that hickory or oak is tougher 
than white pine. Each day after these things have been learned, 
the mechanic may be called on to exercise this particular knowledge. 
The possession of this knowledge does not require the exercise of a 
high degree of intelligence. He does exercise judgment, that judg- 
ment being a result of repeated experience. He knows a certain 
thing and that knowledge makes him a better carpenter or machinist. 
He has, by experience, acquired occupational judgment. 

Occupational intelligence is called into practice when a 
person is confronted with a new situation, for which he has no 
particular preparation. A pattern maker who has always made 
patterns to be used in making molds for cast iron may be called on 
to make a pattern for a brass casting. His experience has never 
included brass shrinkage, yet his experience with cast iron will 
cause him to question the shrinkage of brass. If, while his mind is 
thus stimulated, he receives instruction in related science, he will 
think beyond his past experience. Related science will enable him 
to borrow ideas for future investment. His judgment will not be 
based upon previous experience. His decision will be founded upon 
a general reasoning rather than on any particular information. 
Investigation will result in greater efficiency. The pattern-maker 
will have exercised occupational intelligence. 

Occupational judgment is called into practice in meeting with 
an occasional experience; occupational intelligence is exercised 
when a new situation is encountered. Occupational intelligence is 
an important consideration in occupational instruction and training. 

The foreman will find the chief opportunity for promotion of 
operations or processes in the development of occupational intelligence 
in connection with the performance of independent operations. 

In addition to the opportunity for improvement of methods 



OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 101 

and equipment through study of independent operations, the wide 
awake foreman will understand the advantage of reserving the 
common operations for those workers who are less capable of govern- 
ment by suggestion. Reference to job specifications and to personal 
record data will convince the foreman of the advisability of reserving 
the independent operations for those workers who are most capable 
of doing original thinking. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Select a simple job in your department and list all the operations. 
2 — List the independent operations carried forward in your depart- 
ment. 
3 — List the common operations carried forward in your department. 
4 — List the processes carried forward in your department. 
5 — Select five independent operations and indicate their aims; 

five common operations and their aims. 
6 — List the processes carried forward in your department, indicating 
the independent and common operations entering into each 
process. 
7 — List the jobs which you supervise but do not promote. 
8 — List the jobs which you promote but do not supervise. 
9 — Select one independent and one common operation carried for- 
ward in your department and indicate the manipulations in 
each; the technical knowledge. 
10 — List the equipment of your department and suggest possible 

improvements. 
11 — Why may the study of related science, mathematics and drawing 

result in improvement of equipment? 
12 — List the independent and the common operations carried forward 
in your department together with suggestions for improvement. 
13 — Why do independent operations offer greater opportunity for 

promoting industry than common operations? 
14 — Select a simple piece of equipment in your department and 

apply the plan suggested for improving the equipment, 
15 — Give an instance of the "mysterious" in your department. 



102 OPERATIONS AND PROCESSES 

16 — Suggest three ways by which you may help your business to 
grow. 

17 — List the habits which may be developed in the course of the 
performance of one common operation. 

18 — What do you understand by occupational judgment? occupa- 
tional intelligence? 

19 — List the independent and the common operations carried forward 
in your department and grade each according to the amount 
of occupational intelligence required, giving them percentage 
markings. 

20 — List twenty production proverbs to be found in this topic. 
Which one do you believe to be most important to your depart- 
ment? 



Topic No. 15 

SAFETY FIRST 

Safety first programs are dependent for their success upon the 
fixing of responsibility for accidents. 

All accidents should be divided into two principal groups: 
1 — Avoidable Accidents 
2 — Unavoidable Accidents 

Accidents differ with regard to avoidability and unavoidability 
according to the location of responsibility. 

From the standpoint of the person who knows, and can use a 
means of prevention, the accident may be said to be avoidable. 
From the standpoint of a person who may not know how, or who 
is powerless to prevent the accident, it may be said to be unavoidable. 

The alert foreman will understand that unavoidable accidents 
may be transferred to the avoidable group whenever the responsibility 
can be fixed. 

An example of an unavoidable accident which should be trans- 
ferred to the avoidable class would be one resulting from the bursting 
of a grinder wheel operated at too high speed. It may be assumed 
that the accident is unavoidable from the standpoint of the worker, 
he being powerless to control the conditions. The same accident 
may be considered avoidable from the standpoint of the person 
responsible for the fixing of speeds of the particular grinder. 

It becomes the duty of persons interested in safety first admin- 
istration to fix responsibility wherever possible and thereby reduce 
the number of socalled unavoidable accidents. 

The first step in any constructive safety first program is the 
fixing of responsibility for prevention of those accidents which have 
been considered unavoidable and which may be classed as avoidable 
through fixing of responsibility. 

The responsibility for accident prevention having been fixed, 

103 



104 SAFETY FIRST 

the next step in safety first procedure is to determine the specific 
causes leading to accidents. 

The final step is the adoption of a program looking toward the 
removal of the causes of avoidable accidents whenever possible, and 
the inauguration of policies intended to reduce the possibility of 
injury from unavoidable accidents. 

AVOIDABLE ACCIDENTS 

Avoidable accidents may be classified as follows: 
1 — Avoidable accidents due to carelessness 
2 — Avoidable accidents not due to carelessness. 

Carelessness within the meaning of this topic is to be under- 
stood to be that attitude of mind which is a result of a lack of apprecia- 
tion of the rights and interest of self or of others. 

Avoidable Accidents Due to Carelessness 

It is assumed that the careless worker or foreman has been 
informed of dangers and is aware of the possibility of an accident due 
to his inattention to certain details. 

An instance of carelessness which may result in an accident 
would be the failure to place a guard on a grinder. It may be assumed 
that all mature workmen, as well as foremen and managers, under- 
stand the importance of placing guards on grinders. It is a matter 
of common knowledge, however, that many grinder wheels remain 
unguarded. 

A common remark heard following an accident is, "I knew 
better," or "He knew better." It is a human characteristic to be 
neglectful. 

Foremen and workers who neglect to safeguard themselves and 
others against a recognized danger, constitute a constant menace to 
business growth. 

In spite of the fact that people generally protest against care- 
lessness, and that foremen and workers everywhere are unanimously 
of an opinion that carelessness is inexcusable, the fact remains that 



SAFETY FIRST 105 

thousands of accidents occur daily as a result of carelessness. Care- 
lessness may result in avoidable accident because of: 

1 — Underestimation of dangers 
2— Unconcern for surroundings. 

Underestimation of danger is a result of alack of understanding of 
the seriousness of the hazard and is not to be confused with ignorance. 
It is assumed that the one who is guilty of carelessness does under- 
stand that danger exists. Lack of understanding of the seriousness 
should be understood to mean that the person recognizes the danger 
but minimizes the importance of exercising caution. 

The only treatment for persons afflicted with underestimation 
of danger, is instruction in relative risks. 

Workers should understand that the final result of an accident 
does not always depend upon the seriousness of the injury. 

Workers often neglect to give proper attention to a "mere 
scratch," and thereby help to increase the business of the artificial 
limb factories. 

The experienced foreman knows that any injury may become 
a serious injury. 

The famous remark of the revolutionary General Wayne, that 
"The only good Indian is a dead Indian," should be changed for 
safety first purposes to read, "The only safe danger is the danger 
against which every one is fully prepared." 

The only safe foreman is the foreman who knows and guards 
his workers against every danger. 

It is not enough to be careful in the face of a great danger, the 
safety first foreman must avoid the very appearance of accident 
The only risk worth running is that risk which cannot be avoided. 
To court a danger because it is slight is as surely an evidence of 
weakness as to run away from great danger. 

Evidence of carelessness because of underestimation of dangers 
should be positive proof to the foreman of the need for safety first 
instruction. 

The foreman who ignores evidence of carelessness due to under- 



106 SAFETY FIRST 

estimation of danger is neglecting his duty toward both the worker 
and the management. / 

Production which is increased by underrating dangers is produc- 
tion gained through false pretenses. Foremen should never allow 
an unnecessary risk, however slight, to pass unnoticed. The only 
way to avoid the big accidents is to begin early to avoid the little 
ones. It is much better for the worker to be called a "mollycoddle" 
because he is sensible than to be called a hero for acting foolishly. 

The husband or father who "flirts with the undertaker" should 
not blame others for thinking he is unhappy at home. 

Unconcern for surroundings is a manifestation of carelessness 
which may carry with it a multiple loss. If the worker is forgetful 
of others during his performance of an operation he may injure or 
be injured by those he has forgotten. 

This kind of carelessness is frequently a characteristic of the 
energetic, willing worker. Because of this fact, it is of all the more 
importance that the worker should be saved from his own absent- 
mindedness. 

The workman must watch the track ahead for obstructions and 
open switches while driving his engine down the main line of pro- 
duction. 

The amateur hunter who made farming unsafe in the hunting 
season is responsible for most of the "No hunting allowed" signs. 

The term "bone head" was first applied to a major league ball 
player who earned the title by overlooking a "play" while watching 
his base. The industrial "bone head" is the person who sticks so 
close to his job that he hinders production by forgetting his fellow 
workmen. The industrial "jay walker" is as great a menace to 
production as the "jay driver" is to traffic. 

The foreman must add to his other qualifications that of the 
traffic officer on a busy street. It is one of the duties of a foreman 
to keep the jobs going and to see that traffic is not jammed. Care 
should be observed not to overdo the management of "job traffic." 
Some traffic officers are harmful because, in their efforts to avoid 
collisions they bring about congestion. 



SAFETY FIRST 107 

The worker should be trained to give just the right amount of 
attention to his job. Too much attention to jobs other than his 
own will slow up production and accomplish no good end. 

Avoidable Accident Not Due to Carelessness 

Avoidable accidents not due to carelessness within the meaning 
of this topic may be said to include all those which are the result 
of ignorance of hazard. An instance of an avoidable accident not due 
to carelessness, would be the result of an attempt to drive a truck on 
the wrong side of a busy city street. If the driver's failure to observe 
the traffic rules was due to ignorance of the regulations, the accident 
would be said to be an avoidable accident not due to carelessness. 
The driver would be a fit candidate for instructions in auto driving. 

In support of organization and education for safety first, the 
following interesting table is taken from the book, "Liability and 
Compensation Insurance," by Ralph H. Blanchard. The figures 
were supplied by Robert J. Young, manager of the department of 
safety and relief of the Illinois Steel Company. The figures indicate 
the relative percentage of efficiency of various methods adopted by 
that company in their safety first campaign during which accidents 
rates were reduced 85%. 

Organization 

1 — Attitude and personal work of those in authority 30% 

2 — Safety committees 20% 

3 — Inspections (not by committees) 5% 

55% 
Education 

4 — Instruction to employees 12% 

5 — Bonuses, prizes, etc 8% 

6 — Talks by superintendents, foremen and others. . 3% 
7— Signs 2% 



25% 



108 SAFETY FIRST 

Safeguarding 

8 — Safety devices 12% 

9 — Lighting devices 5% 

10 — Cleanliness and order 3% 

20% 
In summing up the various items presented by Mr. Young it is 
found that organization and education were credited with being 
responsible for 80% of the reduction in accident rates. 

The foreman who seeks to shift the burden of his responsibility 
to the mechanical safeguard can readily understand how ineffective 
will be his safety first administration. Safeguards have their place 
and are a vital necessity but it should be remembered that it is 
impossible to make machinery "foolproof." Another interesting 
deduction from the above table is that talking safety first may be 
expected to accomplish merely 3% of possible accident prevention. 
The following excerpt from Bulletin No. 47, Industrial Accidents 
and their Prevention, Federal Board for Vocational Education, is 
proof of the value of training in being careful. "One of the most 
important considerations of industrial management is the induction 
of the new employee into the plant. In all industries the new men, 
'green men,' are most frequently injured. In a large steel plant the 
accident records revealed that men employed less than 30 days 
were injured six times as frequently as those employed longer, and 
that those employed less than six months were injured four times 
as frequently as the remainder. These accidents are not so much 
due to foolhardiness or carelessness as to ignorance of the hazards 
and of the proper way to do the work and hesitancy in asking instruc- 
tion. The greater the labor turnover the more important it is that 
the new employee receive the proper instruction in his work. Each 
new employee is a potential hazard and as he is increased in number, 
the hazards and possibilities of accidental injuries increase pro- 
portionally." 



SAFETY FIRST 109 

UNAVOIDABLE ACCIDENTS 

When accidents have been reclassified according to the respons- 
ibility for prevention, there will be found to remain many which 
must be classed as unavoidable. 

Unavoidable accidents may be safely assumed to be largely 
due to the hazard of industry. 

Some accidents occur for which a cause can not be assigned. 
The mere fact that the cause of an accident can not be fixed is no 
excuse for failure to protect workers against a known danger. 

As a means toward fixing responsibility for prevention and 
toward determination of causes of accidents, two methods of pro- 
cedure should be followed: 

1 — A study of the influences contributing to accidents 
2— A research department in every factory to determine scien 
tifically all possible causes of accidents. 

In order to enable the foreman to make a beginning in the 
study of contributing influences, the following figures are offered for 
comparative purposes from the Report on Iron and Steel Industry, 
Vol. IV, pp. 174-5, in which an attempt is made to record the causes 
of accidents. The following five causes together with their relative 
percentages of influences upon accident frequency make an interest- 
ing study: 

1 — Hazard of industry 60% 

2 — Negligence of worker 7% 

3 — Negligence of fellow worker 6% 

4 — Negligence of employer 4% 

5 — Not disclosed by the record 23% 

The mere statement that 60% of the accidents in a plant may 
be classified as due to hazard of industry is not to be taken to mean 
that these 60% are unavoidable. Certainly some are unavoidable 
but that organization and education which offers reasonable assur- 
ance of a reduction of 80% of accidents will be more effective if it is 
accompanied by a scientific study of the causes of accidents. 



110 SAFETY FIRST 

While the establishment of such a safety first laboratory offers 
great opportunity, it is a matter in which the management rather 
than the foreman must be interested. This topic treats of the sub- 
ject from the standpoint of the foreman and will therefore be con- 
fined to the influences contributing to accidents. In concluding the 
discussion of unavoidable accidents it may be said that accidents 
due to negligence of workers, negligence of fellow workers, negligence 
of employer as well as those due to uncertain causes, may be safely 
assumed to be material for organization and education work in 

safety first. 

Accident Frequency Points 

Certain facts bearing upon the frequency of accidents and their 
prevention may serve as a guide to foremen and managers in the 
study of causes of accidents. It is easier to fix the responsibility 
for prevention and determine the cause when comparative frequency 
records are studied. Figures gathered in 1914 by the Massachusetts 
Industrial Acci 'ent Board reveal the following facts: 

1 — The largest number of accidents occurred between 10 and 11 

A. M. and 3 and 4 P. M. 
2 — The largest number of accidents occurred to workers earning 

from $11.00 to $12.00 a week. 
3 — The largest number of non-fatal accidents were sustained by 

workers from 21 to 29 years of age. 
4 — The greatest number of fatalities were sustained by workers 

from 40 to 49 years of age. 
5 — The average duration of disability was 12.48 days. 

To these five frequency points may be added the following: 
6 — Thirty day workers are injured six times as frequently as 

experienced employees. 
7 — Workers employed less than six months are injured four 

times as frequently as other employees. 
The following information on accident frequency for foreign 
born and for night workers is taken from Bulletin No. 256, Accidents 
and Accident Prevention in Machine Building, by U. S. Department 
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics: 



SAFETY FIRST 111 

Inability to Speak English as Related to Accidents 

"In the first report of the Bureau on accidents in the iron and 
steel industry a careful study was presented of the comparative 
accident rates of English speaking and non-English speaking workers, 
the basis of the comparison being the experience of a large steel 

plant over a period of years. The result of that study shows 

that while the accident rates were reduced for non-English 

speaking steel workers as well as those speaking English, the im- 
provement in the case of the non-English speaking workers was much 
less definite and much less steady. 

" It is not to be concluded from this fact that the evident handicap 
upon the non-English speaking employees is entirely due to their 
inability to understand directions and orders. This is unquestionably 
a factor in their less favorable accident rate. But another factor 
also enters, namely, that the non-English speaking workers, as a rule, 
suffer from lack of experience and thus are found largely in the 
group of unskilled occupations involving inherently high accident 
hazards. 

"For the machine-building industry it was not possible to obtain 
such full information as to the effects of inability to speak English 
upon accident rates as was obtainable for the steel industry. Of 
much interest, however, as bearing upon the same subject, is the 
following table, which compares the accident rates of the American 
born worker and the foreign-born worker in a large machine-building 
plant: 



112 



SAFETY FIRST 



"Frequency and severity of accidents among American and foreign- 
born workers in a machine-building plant during the period 
1910 to 1913: 





Number 

of 300 

Day 

Workers 


Number of Cases 


Race Group 


Death 


Permanent 
Injury 


Temporary 
Disability 


Total 


American born 
Foreign born ... 


22,556 
18,039 


11 
16 


35 

82 


1,320 

1,737 


1,366 
1,835 


Total 


40,595 


27 


117 


3,057 


3,201 




Number 

of 300 

Day 

Workers 


Accident Frequency Rates 
(Per 1,000 300 Day Workers) 


Race Group 


Death 


Permanent 
Injury 


Temporary 
Disability 


Total 


American born . . 
Foreign born .... 


22,556 
18,039 


0.5 
.9 


1.6 

4.6 


58.5 
96.3 


60.6 
101.8 


Total 


40,595 


.7 


2.9 


75.3 


78.9 




Number 

of 300 

Day 

Workers 


A 

(Daj 


ccident Severity Rates 
-s Lost per 300 Day Worker) 


Race Group 


Death 


Permanent 
Injury 


Temporary 
Disability 


Total 


American born . . 
Foreign born 


22,556 
18,039 


2.9 

5.3 


0.9 

3.4 


0.5 
.9 


4.3 
9.6 


Total 


40,595 


4.0 


2.1 


.7 


6.8 



SAFETY FIRST 113 

"The foreign-born are not entirely non-English speaking, but 
the constant excess of the accident rates of the foreign-born, as 
shown in the table, may clearly be attributed to causes similar to 
those affecting the accident rates of the non-English speaking workers 
in the steel industry, referred to above. 



Day and Night Accident Rates 

"The question of accident distribution through the hours of 
the day has been illustrated elsewhere by so many and such extensive 
compilations that no special study of it need be made here. Atten- 
tion will be chiefly confined to the allied question of day and night 
accident distribution, as illustrated by such limited data as could 
be obtained from the machine-building plants covered. 

"The following table shows, by hours of the day and night, the 
distribution of 6,075 accidents in a large machine-building plant in 
1913. This number is chiefly composed of non-disabling accidents, 
for which class of accidents full reports were available in this plant. 
For the purpose of studying distribution of accidents those of a non- 
disabling character are just as useful as those causing disability. 



114 



SAFETY FIRST 



"Distribution through the day and night of disabling and 
non-disabling injuries in a machine-building plant, 1913: 



Hour Ending at — 


Non-Disabling 
Injuries 


Disabling 
Injuries 


Day 


Night 


Day 


Night 


7 


31 
362 
499 
628 
574 
396 
263 
463 
510 
429 
290 

80 


43 
53 
44 
52 
42 
25 
14 
46 
36 
32 
22 
27 


9 

87 

102 

159 

119 

98 

41 

84 

107 

93 

72 

29 


19 


8 


20 


9 


19 


10 


16 


11 


10 


12 


8 


1 


1 


2 


4 


3 


6 


4 


3 


5 


5 


6 


3 






Total 


4,525 


436 


1,000 


114 







"As regards the hourly distribution of accidents shown in the 
table, it is sufficient to note that it conforms entirely to the general 
type of the compilations hitherto made. 

"There are two peaks of accident occurrence, one in each half 
of the working period, with the peak tending to come earlier in the 
second half. 

"For the purpose of accurate comparison of day and night 
accidents, the data given in the preceding table are presented in 
the next table in the form of day and night frequency rates. 



SAFETY FIRST 



115 



"Comparison of day and night accident rates in a machine- 
building plant, 1913: 



Class 
of Accident 


Number 

of 300-Day 

Workers 


Cases 
of Injury 


Frequency Rates 

(Cases per 1,000 

300-Day Workers) 


Day 


Night 


Day 


Night 


Day 


Night 


Non-disabling . . . 






4,525 
1,000 


436 
114 


338.73 
74.86 


494.89 


Disabling. 






129.40 










Tctal 


13,359 


881 


5,525 


550 


413.59 


624.29 



"The excess in night frequency rates is very marked for both 
non-disabling and disabling accidents. Combining both classes of 
accidents, the frequency rate appears as 413.59 cases for day workers 
as against 624.29 cases for night workers. The night rate is thus 
almost exactly 50 percent higher than the day rate." 

Foremen should apply these frequency points to the workers 
and the jobs in their departments. 

Job specification records called for in topic No. 9 should take 
these points into consideration. 

The following data were furnished by the Safety Institute of 
America and should be evidence to foremen and managers every- 
where of the opportunity for service through safety first practice. 
It is a record of the reduction in accident frequency. 

American Shipbuilding Co., Lorian, Ohio— May-Dec. 31, 1919 62% 
American Steel & Wire Co., New Haven, Conn. — Works, 1919 75.3% 

Central Tube Co., Ambridge, Pa.— Jam-July, 1920 80% 

Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N. Y. — Jan.-July, 1920. . . . 30% 

Ford Motor Co., Detroit, Mich.— Oct., 1916-May, 1918 80% 

Kimberly-Clark Co., Niagara, Wis.— July-Dec. 31, 1919 73% 

Mare Island (California) Navy Yard— July, '17-Dec. 31, 1919 80% 
Maxwell Motor Co., Detroit, Mich.— Mar., 1918-Mar., 1919 88% 

Mershon, Eddy, Parker Co., Saginaw, Mich.— 1919 60% 

Raritan Copper Works, Perth Amboy, N. J.— 1919 65% 

Solvay Process Co., Detroit, Mich.— 1919 62% 

United Alloy Steel Corp., Canton, Ohio— Aug.-Dec. 31, 1919 . 67% 



116 SAFETY FIRST 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — List the probable accidents in your department. Designate 

which ones are unavoidable, avoidable. 
2 — Give an instance of a probable accident which is now classified 

as unavoidable and which in your opinion should be considered 

avoidable. Why should it be reclassified? 
3 — List the probable avoidable accidents in your department which 

in your opinion are not due to carelessness. Why do you so 

consider them? 
4 — List the probable accidents in your department which in your 

opinion are due to carelessness. Why do you think they are 

due to carelessness? 
5 — Select any accident which has occurred in your department and 

indicate the probable cause. 
6 — Give an instance of an accident due to underestimation of 

dangers, unconcern for surroundings. 
7 — How would you go about it to correct underestimation of dangers, 

unconcern for surroundings? 
8 — How may underestimation of dangers increase labor turnover? 

Give an instance. 
9 — Give an instance of industrial "jay walking" which you have 

observed in your department. 
10 — Give instances wherein each of the ten methods listed under 

organization, education and safeguarding might be used in your 

department. 
11 — Why do talks on safety first seem to accomplish little in com- 
parison with the other nine methods suggested? 
12 — What is done in your department to reduce the hazard of the 

"green" worker? 
13 — How would you go about it to reduce the accident record in 

your department? Give instance under each of the ten methods. 
14 — List the probable unavoidable accidents which may occur is 

your department. Give a possible cause of each accident. 



SAFETY FIRST 117 

15 — List all the influences which in your opinion may contribute 
to accident. 

16 — Which of the accidents listed under question 14, do you believe 
to be due to hazard of industry, negligence of worker, negligence 
of fellow worker, negligence of employer? 

17 — Give an instance of an accident which occurred in your plant 
the cause of which is unknown. 

18 — List the probable accidents in your department for which a 
cause might not be assigned. 

19 — Select an accident which has occurred in your plant, the cause 
of which has not been discovered and endeavor to assign the 
cause. 

20 — List each job in your department in its order according to the 
danger of accident. What are the dangers? 

21 — If you were in charge of a particularly hazardous job, what 
times of the day would you be most careful? 

22 — List the safety devices in use in your department. What jobs 
are they used on? How could they be improved? 

23 — List the lighting devices which contribute to safety of the 
employees. How could they be improved? 

24 — What provisions for cleanliness and order are carried forward 
in your department as a part of a safety first plan? How could 
they be improved? 

25 — Select one job in your department and prepare a job specification 
record taking each of the accident frequency points into con- 
sideration. 

26 — Apply the accident frequency points to each job in your depart- 
ment. Make the entry as a part of the job specification record. 



Topic No. 16 
PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 

Modern development of machinery has brought with it 
demands upon the managements of industrial concerns which the 
industrial pioneer did not encounter. Within the lifetime of men 
yet active, the owners of many businesses have been forced from the 
shop to the office. The manufacturer today is kept busy getting orders, 
or deciding which order to fill, or obtaining materials. The manager 
is kept busy with details of the business which have grown up as a 
result of complications of modern social and political life. The 
owner who toiled beside his workers, filed the orders on a bill hook 
and made change from his pocket, has vanished with the prairie 
schooner. The employer of today has been compelled to drop the 
tools of his trade to guide the ship of his business through the crowded 
channel of modern competition. When the modern factory head is 
not busy getting materials or orders, he is meeting inspectors or 
testifying before commissions. 

There is increasing need for a representative group in the 
factory which will truly reflect the management to the workers and 
the workers to the management at a time when modern business 
methods demand that the managements give exclusive attention to 
office detail. 

The need for training in factory management is becoming im- 
perative with each new development in modern business. During 
that period in industry when this country began to change from an 
agricultural to a manufacturing nation, industrial pioneers were 
respected after the manner of all other pioneers. A grateful public 
sang their praises and offered encouragement in the midst of diffi- 
culties. Once established, the industry soon found itself hedged 
about by influences which sought to control and direct the business. 
States and municipalities which once offered every inducement to 
railroads and corporations to locate within their respective juris- 

118 



PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 119 

dictions now spend thousands of dollars annually investigating 
conditions and assisting in the direction of the businesses. 

The industrial pioneer was the recipient of many offers of 
assistance and the communities contested for his favor. The manu- 
facturer of today engages a legal department to interpret the laws 
enacted to control his business and communities contest for his 
possessions. In the midst of this changed condition of affairs manage- 
ments everywhere have come to realize the necessity for having a 
group within the factory or plant who can be relied upon at all 
times to represent the owner accurately before the workers and as 
accurately represent the true spirit of the workers before the 
management. 

Systematic arrangement of business affairs is as necessary 
to modern industry as are the traffic rules to city travel. Analysis 
was carried into business when the pugilistic owner was carried out. 
Analysis is necessary if system is to prevail. Lack of system being 
generally due to failure to analyze, it naturally follows that the 
first test of a manager should be his ability to analyze. Trying to 
conduct business without analyzing its elements may be compared 
to guessing the sum of a column of figures without seeing each 
separate figure. Occupational analysis has a place in foreman 
training wherever the management desires to establish system in 
production. 

Three elements considered in foreman analysis are, 
materials, operations and processes, and workers. Materials must be 
studied and classified apart from other elements if a systematic plan 
for production is adopted. Operations and processes are the means 
by which materials are transformed into a marketable product and 
as such may exeellerate or retard production according to their 
efficiency. Operations, like people, differ with regard to their ability 
to be advanced. 

Children who can not be advanced are said to be subnormal. 
Those who advance more quickly than usual, are said to be pre- 
cocious. Operations and processes should be studied as children, to 



129 PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 

discover which ones offer greatest opportunity for advancement. 
The foreman or superintendent who does not classify his operations 
and processes according to opportunity for improvement makes a 
public confession of his lack of system. 

The industrial cave man confined his foremanizing to super- 
vision of materials, operations and processes. The up to date foreman 
does more supervising in two hours than his predecessor did in ten. 
The foreman of today does not devote more than one-fifth of his 
time to supervision, because four-fifths of his time must be devoted 
to promotion. The amount of time which must be devoted to 
promotion is greater or less according to the skill and cooperation 
of the workers on the job. All other things being equal the firm 
which has the largest measure of skill and cooperation among its 
workers will control the situation. Presence of skill and cooperation 
among workers is like a bank account for a rainy day, it leaves the 
manager free to attack his problems without looking backward over 
his shoulder. If workers do not possess sufficient skill they must be 
instructed and trained. Instruction and training of workers should 
naturally follow where skill and cooperation are not of the best. 
"Competition is the life of trade," if a firm can not compete it is 
"playing hookey" from the industrial graveyard. 

The foreman who declines to take an interest in the 

workers of his department is slamming the door in the face of 
opportunity. The foreman's greatest study is his working men. It 
is not enough for the foreman to know how workers work, he must 
know how they live and think. "A little knowledge is a dangerous 
thing." Industrially speaking, the less a worker knows the more 
dangerous he is. An ancient Hebrew warrior dismissed thousands 
of soldiers and went into the conflict with a few hundred loyal, well 
trained men and won. The industrial manager who can rely upon 
a group of loyal and well trained foremen will be ready to meet 
almost any emergency. The foreman whose workers have ambition, 
job pride and self-respect can be relied upon to "deliver the goods," 
all the time. As an effective means to the fostering of ambition, 



PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 121 

pride and self-respect, foreman interest in workers is beyond 
question. 

**A friend in need is a friend indeed,' * should remind the 
foreman of the opportunity in first aid. The story of the Good 
Samaritan was the first account of first aid administration on record. 
That story is still new after two thousand years. The foreman need 
not fear that the practice of first aid will grow tiresome. The first 
man in history who made a business of "passing the buck" was the 
one who passed by the injured man just before the Good Samaritan 
appeared with his first aid kit. The Levite failed to shift the respons- 
ibility, in the story, and the foreman would do well not to try "passing 
the buck." The foreman should reflect too, that the injured man 
in the story had held a real grudge against all Samaritans. After 
first aid had been administered, he remembered the Samaritan as 
his friend. The first aid kit contains a magic remedy by which 
hatreds are changed to friendships and opposition to loyalty. 

Care of equipment is as, necessary to modern industry as first 
aid is to the worker. Care of equipment in lubrication, cleaning* 
painting, adjustments and repairs is in reality first aid administra- 
tion to industry. Every rattle in the machine is a danger signal to 
the management. Every shut down is a loss. A story records that, 
for the want of a nail, a horseshoe was lost; for the want of a horse- 
shoe, a horse was lost; for the want of a horse, a battle was lost; 
for the want of a victory, a kingdom was lost. A modern parallel 
might read, for the want of lubrications (cleaning, painting, adjust- 
ment or repairs) a machine was shut down, for the want of a machine 
the orders were lost, for the want of orders the plant was closed down- 

When pressure of new influences forces the owner from 
the shop to the office he recognizes the need for reports. In order 
to furnish reliable reports, accurate records are necessary. 

Just as modern industry depends upon accurate reporting so does 
foreman training depend upon recording as a basis for instruction. 
The foreman who is being trained will be benefitted in proportion 
to the completeness of his recording. Every list requested and 
every record suggested should be prepared if the foreman and the 



122 PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 

management expect to get results. All industrial improvements are 
results of recorded study and labor. Successful foreman training 
is no exception to the rule. 

The foremen, who at the conclusion of a course of training 
have started complete sets of records from which reports can be 
made, will be the ones whose departments will show improvement 
from the instruction. Records or reports called for in training 
courses need not be prepared if the details are already provided for 
in forms issued by the company. The company forms should be 
substituted for the ones requested in the topic. The test of the 
foreman's understanding of the subject matter of the topics will be 
the manner in which he keeps his records and renders his reports. 

Success of direct supervision of operations and processes 

depends upon the interest of the supervisor. Every successful enter- 
prise was founded and supervised during its infancy by some man 
who was "married to the business." Prudent men are always 
married twice: first, to the business, then to the wife. Being wedded 
to a woman and a job is approved by the law. It is the only kind 
of bigamy one may commit and keep out of jail. There is a common 
understanding between the workers and the owner who works on 
the job. Understanding is a result of experience. Faith is a result 
of understanding. The ideal indirect supervision is the kind which 
maintains a common understanding between the owner and the 
workers on the job. 

Company policies are the means by which the management 
endeavors to strengthen the workers' understanding. The foreman, 
as an interpreter of company policies, must study each policy in 
order to interpret it understandingly. 

Turnover, to the industrial pioneer, meant just two things, 
money and material. Labor turnover came with improved machinery 
and complication of business. The withdrawal of the old human 
touch of the owner who worked on the job, resulted in decreased 
interest and increased labor turnover. The foreman must be brought 
to understand the need of human interest on the job. 



PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 123 

Cooperation with the management, with other foremen or 
with workers is impossible if the foreman confines his interest to the 
machine-like operations of production. Cooperation without under- 
standing is artificial and cannot last. To expect permanent coopera- 
tion between human beings without close study of the influences 
affecting persons from whom cooperation is expected is like expecting 
a crop of good wheat while ignorant of the kind of seed. Ignorance, 
prejudice and conflict are characteristics of persons engaged in 
poorly managed businesses — knowledge, reason and cooperation mark 
the progress of all sound enterprises. 

The road to industrial cooperation is paved with something more 
than good intentions. It is paved with understanding service. The 
person who makes a regular business of cooperation will soon increase 
his business. Industrial cooperation is the sunlight which gladdens 
the hearts of indifferent managers and workers and makes pro- 
duction grow. 

Real cooperation is impossible without a close study of the 
outside influences affecting those with whom cooperation is desired. 
Without a knowledge of the social influences acting upon workers, 
the foreman is like a general who goes into battle ignorant of the 
condition of his troops. 

Nearly every one does two things, the thing he is paid to do 
and the thing he loves to do. The constant struggle of each person 
is to make the thing he loves to do, the thing he is paid to do. When 
a person finds a job he loves to do, he is soon known as successful . 
If a foreman would learn the occupational tendencies of the workers 
of his department, he should observe their use of their surplus time. 

The industrial pioneer laid the foundation of his success by 
careful selection of his workers. The foreman must frequently 
choose between the lesser of two evils in the selection of workers. 
Employment of workers on jobs for which they are not adapted 
increases the need for supervision, management and training. 

Any system of instruction which merely aims at increasing 
production, neglects the most important feature of human develop- 
ment. Men and women may not be improved by increasing produc- 



124 PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 

tion, but production will be increased by improving men and women. 
The first duty of the industrial management should be to interest 
itself in its workers. The natural result of wise managerial interest 
in employees is increased production, improved cooperation, and 
lowered labor turnover. Foreman training should result in a mutual 
understanding of the problems of the management and the workers. 
The efficient foreman will be interested in the welfare of each one 
of his workers. The foreman who does not have a working knowledge 
of the standards of living of the workers of his department will be 
as rare within the next generation as the belligerent "boss" is now. 

Next to the foreman's knowing all about workers, is his need 
for being acquainted with each operation and process. Knowledge 
is the cement used in building processes. The strength of the cement 
depends upon the mixture. Technical knowledge is the sand, em- 
pirical information the water and auxiliary knowledge the cement 
which forms the concrete structure of every operation. The amount 
of each element used in each job will differ according to the nature 
of the operation entering into it. 

Invention has ceased to be a mysterious art since large 
corporations have set up laboratories for the improvement of equip- 
ment. Improvement of human beings is brought about by careful 
planning. Why should not equipment improvement submit to the 
same laws of progression? In the promotion of operations and 
processes an avenue is opened to the intelligent foreman through 
which he may advance with certainty of ultimate success. 

Industrial paralysis in a business is a direct result of failure 
on the part of the foreman to exercise each of the important functions 
of foremanizing. Two principal opponents encountered by those who 
are interested in foreman training are the foreman who thinks there is 
not much to know about foremanizing and the foreman who imagines 
he knows it all. Before one can be taught he must realize his need 
for instruction. Until managers and foremen realize that they 
apply the principles of psychology, more often than do college 
professors, industrial unrest will continue to manifest itself. When 
the foreman has realized his need for instruction he has taken the 



PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 125 

first step on the ladder of industrial success. Interesting the foreman 
in foreman training depends upon his being convinced of his need 
for instruction. "A man may be led to knowledge but can not 
be made to think," likewise one must be hungry for ideas before he 
is ready to partake of instruction. 

Safety first organization offers great opportunity as a means 
of awakening the interest of the foreman in his need for training. 
Safety first organization and education appeal to every one who is 
at all interested in industrial development. Every function in the 
art of foremanizing is exercised in safety first administration. The 
need for instruction of workers and apprentices, maintenance of order, 
the use of orders, directions and suggestions, enforcement of company 
policies, promotion of interest, first aid, care of equipment, recording 
and reporting, labor turnover, ordering, storing, developing and 
delivery of materials, cooperation, outside influences, supervision 
and promotion of operations and processes all are embraced within 
the organization and administration of a safety first program. If 
safety first organization has not been begun in a plant it should be 
inaugurated simultaneously with foreman training. Where a safety 
first committee is functioning, that committee offers a vehicle for 
the inspiration and introduction of foreman training. 

Our country's growth and development depends upon the 
growth and development of its citizens. The stability of a building 
does not depend upon the strength of its strongest pillar. A wall is 
as strong as its weakest brick. Nations, communities, and organiza- 
tions are not judged by their most able representatives. Some thing 
must be done in every community, to reestablish that skill and job 
pride which is rapidly disappearing. A common mistake is to place 
the blame for loss of skill and of job pride upon individuals or 
organizations. 

Lowering of the standards of industrial personnel is resulting from 
the slow process of adaptation to new conditions of production. 

The changes from domestic to factory production methods were 
radical. Business managements are naturally conservative in dealing 
with unknown quantities and conservatism has been practiced in 



126 PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 

adaptation of human beings to new industrial situations. Machines 
have been installed over night. Generations are sometimes required 
for managers and workers to adjust their human relations to the 
changed production methods. The great majority of human beings 
quite naturally follow the line of least resistance. 

The great problem of the human engineer is to render 
correct practices easier to do than to dodge. Human engineering 
should become a part of our production practices. Systems of pro- 
duction must be fitted equally well to different systems of society. 

Kings may be dethroned and governments may be changed, but 
production will go on forever. This generation owes it to the men 
and women of the future to improve methods of production. 

The only real excuse for man's having lived is to leave the 
world better at the close of life than he found it at the beginning. 
Workers and managements have a common obligation to the coming 
generation. The real conservative is the one who fails to recognize 
service to mankind in progressive action. To argue about whether 
or not production shall be carried forward is like arguing about the 
laws of gravitation. There is only one side to the subject. Produc- 
tion must go forward. As production goes forward, so must men 
and women advance. The world will be benefited by any system of 
instruction worthy of being made the subject of training in the modern 

factory. 

TOPICAL QUESTIONS 

1 — Why is it as important to reflect the worker to the management, 
as it is to reflect the management to the worker? 

2 — Write a short history of your own business. 

3 — Give three reasons for a foreman making analyses. 

4 — Why is it that the average mechanic seems to be less skilled 
than the mechanics of the past generation? 

5 — Why should the foreman receive instruction in the art of 
teaching? 

6 — Why is the foreman's greatest study his working men? 

7 — Why should a foreman know how his workers live? 



PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 127 

8 — Why is a "little knowledge a dangerous thing" from a produc- 
tion standpoint? 

9 — What do you understand by loyalty? 
10 — What do you understand by the statement that "The first aid 
kit contains a magic remedy by which hatreds are changed into 
friendships and opposition into loyalty?" 

11 — What do you estimate to be the loss from shutting down a 
regularly operated equipment in your department, during one 
hour? 

12 — List each piece of equipment in your department, together with 
the hourly loss in case of shut down. 

13 — What do you believe to be the best reason for recording? for 

reporting? 
14 — Complete all records and reports requested in Topic No. 9. 

15 — Why are company policies necessary? Why should foremen 
understand their application? 

16 — What do you understand by "labor turnover?" 

17 — Why should the foreman interest himself in the extent of labor 
turnover? 

18 — What do you understand by cooperation? How may the fore- 
man cooperate with his workers? 

19 — How may the foreman cooperate with the managers? 

20— Why should a foreman be interested in outside influences? Give 
an instance of how your department may be benefited by your 
interest in outside influences. 

21 — Why should foreman training result in a mutual understanding 
of the problems of the management and the worker? 

22 — State three reasons why a foreman should be acquainted with 

each operation and each process. 
23 — What is technical knowledge? Auxiliary knowledge? Empirical 

information? What is a manipulation? 
24 — Why should a foreman be proficient in all the factors of the 

modified Richard's formula? 



128 PURPOSES AND AIMS OF FOREMAN TRAINING 

25 — Why should a foreman plan improvements for his department? 
26 — What do you understand by the statement, "Managers and 

foreman apply the principles of psychology more often than do 

college professors?" 
27 — Why does a safety first organization exercise every function of 

foremanizing? 
28 — How will foreman training raise the standards of skill and 

increase job pride? 
29 — What do you understand to be the business of a human engineer? 

30 — What is the foreman's duty, as a foreman, to the next generation? 
31 — Offer ten suggestions for the introduction and improvement of 
foreman training. 



L6A P ; 2; 



